A Doolittle of Pokemon
by Classy-cat18
Summary: Yeah, I know it's been done before. Shonta rediscovers her ability to talk to and understand Pokemon. But that comes with a painful past...and an uncertain future. Believe me, it'll be PG-13 soon! Please R and R!
1. The Beginning

This is my first fanfic, so don't be too cruel. I just woke up with all these ideas for a story, so I decided to try them out. Depending on your reaction, I might do more than one chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, I wouldn't be in technical school worrying about all the money they're sucking out of me or of loans I know I'll have to deal with sooner or later.

**Chapter One: The Beginning**

"Uhh...," I moaned as the killjoy of good dreams commonly known as an alarm clock tore me out of a good night's sleep. "No matter how late I set you, you always make me very upset," I muttered to my inanimate, mechanical enemy.

Hi, my name's Rebecca Shonta Jones, and I'm inspired to become a prime Pokemon watcher and researcher. I'm eighteen years old, just got my Pokemon trainer's license, and I'm still worried about when I'm going to go for my driver's license. Someone call Ripley's.

"Rebecca! I've been calling you for half an hour! Get up or you'll miss your meeting with Professor Cedar!" Mom yelled. Good ol' Mom. She calls me by my first name when she's edgy. If she's this edgy about something like this, imagine her at the day of my high school graduation. She was bouncing off the walls! She knows that Professor Cedar normally schedules his appointments with the new trainers in the afternoon. It was just 10:00 in the morning.

I rolled off my soft daybed complete with warm sunshine and stumbled into the kitchen complete with electric light. My fourteen-year-old brother Rod was already seated at the table and inhaling his food. That Rod: not getting younger and probably will never get any thinner.

"Careful, Hot Rod. You're already shaming Lickitung. Don't make the Snorlax stare," I commented as I went for my usual bowl of cereal. My family calls him Hot Rod because if he worked as much and as fast as he ate, we could send him away to be part of a race car pit crew. My favorite nickname for him is Mario.

"You shouldn't talk, Becky. You just now have your Pokemon trainer's license, and you still can't drive. At this rate I'll have my driver's license before you," he countered as he finished off his breakfast, his mouth still full of food. He likes calling me Becky because he knows I don't like that version of my first name. His favorite nickname for me is Luigi. Together we are the Mario Brothers.

"You still have one more year," I shot back. "A lot could happen in a year. And you don't have a trainer's license at all. At this rate I'll be laughing at you from Indigo Plateau before Mom lets you have your first Pokemon." Of course I knew that my heart wasn't in being a Pokemon master. I just wanted a Pokemon for a friend and companion when I go to Ecruteak College, Johto's answer to Pokemon Tech.

"You two stop bickering and get ready to get out of this house. You know my co-workers are waiting for me to call them about which Pokemon you get, Rebecca," Mom yelled from the living room.

"You should call the crazy house before Becky starts hearing voices, like the time we went on that camping trip," I heard Rod quietly say. But I was too busy finishing my cereal to listen to him.

I walked back to my room and put together my clothes for the day. As I was slipping on my favorite clothes, the boom box was blasting the newest Missy Elliot hit. As always, I found myself bouncing to the music as I slipped on my favorite purple T-shirt, baggy blue jeans, and slightly dirty Air Force Ones. I frantically searched for my light blue bead bracelet and found it next to my sketch pad.

I slipped on my bracelet then sat on the daybed while flipping through my sketch pad. One thing about me: I was terribly antisocial but a very good sketch artist. All through high school, I would always rather read about and draw Pokemon than go to a prom. I viewed some pictures I drew of my brother ("I do not look that fat!" he'll always say), my mother, and some fairly good drawings of Dragonball Z characters. Then some Pokemon pictures. There was a sketch of a running Rattata, a flying yet angry Spearow (that one cost me some pain), and... i _that /i _sketch. My pride and joy. My secret treasure. My Raikou sketch. As soon as I laid eyes on that drawn Raikou, the memory of the night that Rod was commenting about earlier flashed in my mind.

i _It was one year ago, in the summer before my senior year in high school. We decided to go camping with my uncle. Too bad we didn't think about the weather, for soon we were faced with a thunderstorm warning. I took advantage of this and managed to make a sketch of a couple of electric-types that were growing excited of the coming lightning while everyone was sleeping. With all I was doing, I didn't notice a mischievous Pichu zooming by and snatched the pencil from my hands until it was too late._

_I chased the Pichu through the woods, only half aware of the Pokemon that could be lurking behind the trees. I finally caught up with it when it stopped from exhaustion at the edge of a small meadow. "Okay you little rugrat, that's my last pencil and I'm taking it back!" I demanded as snatched the pencil from the electric rodent's mouth and glaring at the small teeth marks indented in the wood. Unfortunately, the demand took the last of my energy and I plopped down in the soft grass._

_I didn't like the look on that Pichu's face. It didn't look angry or scared; it looked _shocked_. It was staring at me, its little mouth and eyes as far open as it could possibly go. _

"_What's the matter with you? Cat got your tongue?" I finally said after a moment of silence. I regretted the words as soon as they left their mouth. I thought it would shock me, or run back to its family, like I should be doing. Instead I got the first shock of my life._

"_AHHH! TALKING HUMAN!" it screamed, its body seemingly paralyzed in place._

_I scooted a foot back from the rodent, my heart trying to get back online. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" I screamed back. The two of us spent what seemed like forever screaming our heads off, our voices almost as loud as the incoming thunder. Then, as I looked around for the prankster that must have been behind this, I spotted something across the meadow that took my mind off the incredible speaking Pichu._

_An intimidating Pokemon stood across from us. Yellow with a lightning bolt pattern streaked across its body and showing its steak knife-sized teeth, I was looking at the legendary dog of thunder. I could hardly see it when it was dark, but when the lightning flashed, it might as well be just an inch from my face. The Pichu, which seemed to have stopped screaming, turned its gaze to look at Raikou. At that point we were both totally paralyzed. The Raikou was staring at the two of us; no, at _me._ For the next two minutes, I took in everything, from its muscular-looking paws to the electricity that was radiating from its body in the form of mini lightning bolts. Then, as just disappeared, just as mysteriously and suddenly as he came._

_The Pichu and I just stared at each other until the small electric-type darted back into the woods. Too tired to try to stop it, I shakily stood up and managed to find the campsite. I crept in my sleeping bag without my family noticing. The next morning, I sketched the Raikou I saw with surprising detail. /i _

"Hey, Becky! Mom's about to leave you!" my brother rudely yelled in my ear. I snapped out of my trance, called Rod a name that not even eighteen-year-olds should know, and dashed to the car. My brother followed, told Mom what I called him, and threw my purse at me. My adventure's about to pick up where it left off.


	2. Enter Artemis, Exit Normal Life

I have to apologize for the error, people. I have the whole fanfic written up in another place, so I decided to share it with a new audience. So every day or two another chapter will pop up. Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

Enter Artemis, Exit Normal Life

I sat in the backseat while staring out the car window, heading toward Professor Cedar's lab in my hometown of Sunflower Town. Just in case you haven't heard of the place, and you'd be crazy if you have, it's just about smack dab in the middle of the Ilex Forest. The only safe access in and out of the town is one main unpaved roadway and smaller pathways for hikers. You could go out there yourself, but unless you have the internal instincts of a migrating Wingull, you practically would be writing your will. But just because the place is hidden in a forest, doesn't mean it's a backwoods village. Sunflower Town's pretty well sized. It reminds you of Pallet town, only with more trees.

My mind was still stuck on the Raikou incident. After it happened, the little talent of mine stayed suppressed. That made it tough to prove that it happened. I told myself that the Pichu did not talk, that the sight of the legendary dog was just a dream. But every time I was close to convincing myself this, the teeth marks on my pencil and the lack of sleep told me otherwise. So I decided to keep silent on the issue, because I knew that my family would throw me in the nearest nuthouse if I kept trying to prove it to them.

I snapped back to reality at the sound of Mom's voice. "Rebecca, which starter will you get?" Chikorita, Totodile, and Cyndaquil were Pro. Cedar's regulars, but sometimes he'll offer something different to test a trainer's flexibility, or just because he's like that. "I don't know. I heard he gave the last beginning trainer a Pidgey because he wanted to see if he could cope," I replied. I secretly hoped it would be a Pokemon that could fit inside the house or refrain himself from terrorizing Rod in the middle of the night, although once everyone sees my brother that's the first thing on their minds.

We passed through restaurants and small apartments, and finally arrived at the gates of Professor Cedar's lab. Since he was expecting us, the gates were already open. Driving up the long driveway, we saw some of the Pokemon that he had in his nature reserve. I could see that Pro. Cedar was comfortable with leaving the gates open as I took a look at was definitely a swarm of Scyther. As we drove by the Scyther, they glared at us as though we were interrupting something personal.

"Hey Becky, wonder what they're thinking?" Rod asked while glaring back at the mantis Pokemon.

"Judging by the way they're licking their lips, I'd say they're thinking 'Wonder how much barbeque we can make with that little porker?'" I joked.

"Rebecca, what have I said about making fun of your brother's weight?" Mom sternly said. I kept quiet while my brother made a face at me while Mom was busy trying not to crash into anything.

I went back into staring at the scenery. There was a grassy field, a clear blue pond, and the Ilex Forest in the background, virtually untouched. Numerous Pokemon lived their everyday lives here, some wild, others trained. I felt like a kid in a Toys-R-Us, hoping I'd get one of the tougher Pokemon out there. Although I had almost no desire of becoming a Pokemon master, I had a thing for tough Pokemon. I guess it's from that close encounter of the legendary kind.

Finally we reached the lab. Professor Cedar was standing outside of the door with a slight look of amazement on his young face. Unlike most of the other Pokemon professors, this guy was young, plus you could tell he had people skills. By his looks, he may not be more than ten years older than me. "Good afternoon!" he said warmly with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour. Fortunately I always prepare ahead of time. Come inside and we'll give you your first Pokemon immediately if you want to."

He shook Mom's hand, then Rod's, then gave me a more secure handshake. "You're excited, Shonta?" he asked me.

"Not as excited as Mom," I replied, pointing to my nervous parent. "I'm guessing that she's afraid that it's going to be one of those oversized, uncontrollable Pokemon."

"Don't worry," he said to Mom. "I wouldn't be responsible if I gave her something like that."

We walked into the living area of the lab, where I could see that this professor definitely had a life outside of Pokemon. It was decorated with nice furniture, books from all kinds of authors (even J.K. Rowling), and even a Gamecube. We walked past the living area and into the part of the lab that contained hundreds of pokeballs, some empty and others full. "Wait here," Pro. Cedar instructed us while he walked to a shelf and picked a pokeball. He inspected it, probably making sure it was the right one, then returned to us.

"I wanted to give you something to suit your personality, Shonta," he excitedly said while handing me the pokeball. "I think she's perfect for you. I got this Pokemon from a close friend of mine. Go on, open it!"

I pushed the button on the pokeball with shaking fingers and opened it. A big flash of light, and my first Pokemon appeared on the floor: an Eevee. She was small and brown, with a white tip at the end of her tail. The Eevee looked up at me with big black eyes and called out happily. "She's so cute!" I exclaimed, and picked her up. Pro. Cedar smiled at me I while stroked her long ears and the bushy fur on her chest.

"That's it? Man, I hope you evolve it as soon as possible, Becky. This thing's too small and wimpy," Rod said disappointedly.

"Okay, Hot Rod. This is not your Pokemon, so you can shut your mouth until you can get your own! And stop insulting her! Don't judge a book by its cover," I shouted him, so close to his face I could smell his unbrushed mouth. I looked at the Eevee, seeing that she was angrier than I was. She was growling and snapping her teeth at him! "Besides, you better hope that I don't evolve her. Mom might have to take you to the clinic to treat your burns or to thaw you out," I added while trying to soothe my new friend.

"Wow, she obviously likes you! You two most have more in common than I thought," Pro. Cedar said to me.

"You mean we both feel like KO'ing Hot Rod right now?"

"Ha ha, very funny. Why don't you take your new Pokemon outside and enjoy the reserve while I talk to your Mom?"

I set the Eevee down on the floor and started walking to the door, occasionally looking back to see if she was following. And she was, and quite eagerly as it seems. We walked back outside and into a big grassy field where grazing Pokemon were eating. I turned to the Eevee and said, "Don't worry about my brother Hot Rod. He's just jealous. He doesn't like having to wait for anything." The Eevee looked up to me, smiled, and _spoke._

"Don't worry. Brothers are supposed to be annoying jerks," she said, and laughed.

I plopped down on the grass, held my hand over my quickly beating heart, and stared at the Eevee like the Pichu stared at me one year ago. Luckily, I managed not to scream. "What...did...you...say?" I asked slowly and quietly.

"I said that brothers are supposed to be jerks. Are you deaf or something, Becky?" she replied.

"No, of course not. Can you understand me?"

"Yeah, and I guess you know what I'm saying too!"

"Aren't you freaked out of something, 'cause I can't believe this!" I remembered how the Pichu reacted, like I was an alien coming to abduct it.

"I guess I am a little surprised, but it's more cool than freaky! Finally, someone to talk to!" the Eevee said perkily, and laughed again.

Now my heart was back to normal. So my talent came back, I thought. No use screaming my head off for something that I was half-expecting to happen. I turned back to the Eevee, my first Pokemon partner.

"I guess I should give you a name." Then I noticed the spot on her head. It was white and shaped like a crescent moon. "What about Artemis? Feminine yet tough."

Artemis blinked at the sound of the name. "Why Artemis? It sounds like something out of Sailor Moon."

"What's Sailor Moon? I read something out of Greek mythology that said that Artemis was the goddess of the moon and the hunt. It came to mind when I saw that mark on your forehead."

Artemis rubbed the moon-shaped mark and shrugged. "Oh well, at least it's a better name than Becky."

I almost fell out at the sound of my nickname. "It's not Becky; it's Rebecca. Better yet, just call me Shonta. I like it better than Rebecca."

"Okay! Wait, I hear something." Artemis's ears perked as the sound of soft footsteps grew louder. We both turned around and spotted Rod walking and laughing at me.

"Oh man! You _are_ crazy! What are you doing talking to that runt?" Rod exclaimed while approaching Artemis. "You still think you can talk to Pokemon? You are in so much trouble!"

"Okay, so I can talk to Artemis. That doesn't make me crazy; it just makes you stupid and rude for listening in on our conversation!"

"At least I can have a conversation with someone! This runty idiot probably has the intelligence of a two-year-old." Rod was crouching down in front of Artemis and poking her as if she was a dead Rattata. She responded to the poking by biting one of his pudgy, fat fingers as if she was a dead Rattata that wasn't really dead at all.

"AHH! MOM! HELP ME! SHONTA'S NEW POKEMON BIT ME! I MIGHT BE INFECTED WITH RABIES!" Rod screamed frantically while I coaxed Artemis into letting go of his finger. Rod ran back to Mom who was now beside the car. I calmly walked back to Pro. Cedar with an alibi ready while Artemis trotted beside me.

"Idiot my paw. That guy should stop biting his nails. And since when did someone as cute and sweet like me carried rabies?" Artemis mumbled while going back to the car.

"Shonta, did your Pokemon bite Rod?" Mom asked me.

"Yeah, but Rod shouldn't have been poking Artemis. She's not used to him, plus she's very sensitive." I picked Artemis up and held her like a newborn as Mom cooed and petted her.

"Oh Shonta, I forgot!" Pro. Cedar ran up and gave me a Pokedex and some pokeballs. "I know you're not crazy about being a Pokemon master, but the more the merrier, right?"

"Yeah, and thanks for giving me Artemis." I climbed in the front seat with Artemis while explaining to Rod how taking turns are done.

"Hey, Mom! Aren't you going to tell Shonta that she's in trouble? Her Pokemon just bit me and she's saying that she can understand it!" Rod was desperately trying to ruin my day again.

"Rod, be quiet before I leave you outside with the Scyther!" Mom threatened Rod while giving him the universal "I'm getting a headache" sign. Meanwhile, Artemis and I were laughing at Rod's failed attempt to tattle.

"Hey Shonta, what's my new home like?" Artemis asked me.

"Not very exciting, but you won't have to worry about that," I quietly replied.


	3. More Bark than Bite

**Chapter 3:**

**More Bark Than Bite**

Artemis seemed really excited on the trip home. It was still about mid-afternoon, so Mom stopped by the store to get dinner for this evening and supplies for Artemis. Artemis was humming happily to the music while Mom was talking to her friend Ms. Steele on the phone.

"Hey, girl! How's it going? Fine for me. Shonta just got back from the lab and she has the sweetest little Eevee! How's your son doing? That's good. I think I remember you saying that he's going to get his first Pokemon tomorrow. I still think it's nice that he decided to wait to get his starter until Shonta got hers. Don't they make the cutest match?"

I groaned at this remark while Artemis quietly giggled. Mom was talking to Ms. Steele's son, Ryan. We grew up together, played together, and shared each other's secrets. He was the only one that believed me when I told him about my first experience with my gift of gab. We promised each other that we would go to Ecruteak College together and be the best duo of Pokemon researchers ever. Mom's so crazy about Ryan that she constantly takes us places while Ms. Steele always makes sure that I stay full and sane. Ryan can't help but blush when Mom calls him "her little son-in-law to be".

"Hey Luigi, aren't you going to put what's his name back in its pokeball?" Rod sneered as he and Artemis exchanged glares.

"When and if she feels like it," I said simply as I stroked Artemis's fur. I looked down at Artemis's sad eyes and added, "I don't think she wants to go back in."

"Mom, make Shonta call back her Pokemon!"

"Rod! Stop pestering Shonta! She doesn't have to put her back in if she doesn't want to," Mom said as she pulled into the driveway.

Artemis hopped out of the car and inspected the yard of her new home as I picked up a couple of grocery bags. "This is a lot smaller than the reserve," she said as she sniffed around the grass and flower beds.

"Well, not all of us get paid big bucks for having one of the coolest jobs in the Pokemon world," I commented as I checked Artemis food to make sure it was the brand that Pro. Cedar recommended. "Wow, this sounds tasty. Hope you like your veggies."

"I have my favorites," she said with a funny face. "Good thing I'm hungry. Hurry up and get that bag open!"

"Talking with your new friend, Shonta? Tell her that dinner will be ready in . But before you do, let me have a word with little Artemis." Mom put the rest of the bags in the house, returned, and looked down at Artemis with a sudden expression of extreme seriousness. She was going to lay down "The Rules".

"Let me get this straight right now. No jumping on the furniture. No tracking any kind of impurities on my clear floor. No eating from any other dish other than yours. No making a lot of noise in the middle of the night. And if you ever, EVER, use any kind of attack in the house and break or hurt anything or anybody, you will be in so much trouble that YOU'LL WISH YOU WAS INVISIBLE!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Artemis quickly nodded and hid behind me.

"Good. Now get ready for dinner. Both of you."

Mom was strange. Sometimes I thought that she shared the Doolittle talent with me, because she was always so cool about the way I explained myself last year. Every time I told her I thought the talent was coming back, she'll just smile and say "That's nice, dear." I didn't know if she was joking about the matter or if she was believing me and just staying cool with it.

Artemis watched Mom walk casually back in the house and said, "Your mom freaks me out, Shonta. I'll make sure I don't break one rule."

"You understood her?"

"It was hard not too!"

We walked behind the house to the backyard. There stood a large tree and some sunflowers. Sunflower Town is famous for their giant sunflowers and their special Sunflora. During the spring Sunflora are everywhere and are a favorite target for Pokemon trainers of all kinds. The bad thing is that the Pokemon come and go within a couple of months.

"Cozy, huh?" I said while testing our most recent purchase from the Goldenrod Department Store Online: a hammock with a stand.

"It is pretty, but where are the Pokemon?" Artemis asked while jumping on the hammock with me.

"Well, with the exception of the tons of Pokemon that calls Pro. Cedar's reserve home and small Pokemon, they mainly live on the outskirts of the town. Most of the wild Pokemon stay in the Ilex Forest, but a few gutsy ones have been known to sort of terrorize the neighborhood. Even then, they either get chased back by someone or end up getting caught."

"Oh. Hey, who's that Pokemon?" She was looking up at a small bird circling overhead that looked like it was going to dive-bomb us.

"It's Spearow!" I replied frantically. I managed to snatch Artemis off of the hammock seconds before it flew right through it and landed on the ground below.

I sadly looked at the shredded remains of the hammock and felt myself go to pieces. "Oh man, there goes three months' payday! You're KFC now, birdy!" The Spearow just laughed and ran to a teenage boy wearing a leather jacket.

"Ah, Shonta. Long time no see. I just got back from vacation and thought that you might want to see the pictures that I took," The taller of the boys said to me with a sneer.

"Sorry, Tony. I don't feel like hearing about your pleasant time in juvie. Speaking of juvie, how did you get out? Did you escape or did they just get tired of you and threw you out?" Tony was the bully to end all bullies. Growing up, he would push around everyone, even if they were two or three grades ahead of him. Rumor is that everyone is scared of him and his ever shrinking gang because his father was a certain infamous Gym Leader.

"I got bail. My father has 'connections.'" Oy, again with the connections. The only reason that Tony got as far in school as he did was because of the connections. In fact, the only thing that stood between him and graduation was the police. Man, those Jennies are something! Tony's favorite pastime is catching the strongest Pokemon, even if they already belonged to someone. A real Team Rocket wannabe.

I put Artemis down and stood in front of her. Tony just laughed as though she was Drew Carey doing stand-up comedy. "Is that what you got from the Professor? Oh man, I knew there was something wrong with that birdbrain! That runt couldn't hurt my Pokemon if she tried!"

Now I see where Rod gets if from.

I looked down at Artemis and Tony's Spearow. It sounded like the Spearow was doing his own gloating. "Hey squirt, you look more like a featherweight!" it crowed.

"Why are you being so mean? I don't want any trouble." Artemis was saying as it was slowing backing up and heading back to the house.

"You can't do anything! Come try me! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do?" It was bouncing up and down, flapping his wings like a professional wrestler would flex his muscles.

Artemis suddenly stopped and looked down at the ground. She had gotten very calm all of a sudden. "I'm gonna do...this!" She scooped a handful of loose dirt and flung it in the Spearow's eyes. A perfect Sand-Attack! She wasted no time in running up and tackling it. The Spearow rolled and stopped in front of his trainer's feet, KO'ed in one hit.

"Never underestimate the little guy," Artemis said, and stuck her tongue at Tony.

Tony was startled as he bent over and roughly picked up the unconscious bird. "Spearow, wake up! Useless pile of flesh." He called back his Spearow and glared at me. I had a big smug look on my face as Artemis walked back and sat beside me.

"You were saying, Mr. Soprano?" I was smirking and at the same time getting ready to run for it. No telling what other Pokemon he had.

"I'll show you not to mess with me. Houndour, go!" He was getting ready to throw a pokeball when a voice yelled out to him.

"Tony Stellar! What are you up to now?" Behind Tony stood a stern-looking blue-haired woman who was wearing a police uniform. A Growlithe stood by her side, his expression matching that of the police officer.

Tony turned around and walked past Officer Jenny. Jenny looked back at me, her expression softening.

"Are you and your Pokemon okay?" Officer Jenny asked me while she and Growlithe walked toward me. She approached Artemis and petted her. "So this is your new Pokemon. She looks healthy and happy!"

"Yeah, and you could add hungry to the list. When are we going to eat?" Artemis slightly whined.

"Yeah, we're just fine. I can't believe they let that slime out!" I said.

"I don't either, but be careful. He'll surely go back to his old tricks." Officer Jenny stood up and started walking away. "Have a good evening!"

"We will!" Artemis and I said together. As Jenny went back to the station, I started walking back to the front door of the house.

"You sure showed that Spearow who's boss! I bet it'll think twice before pushing anyone around again!" I said to Artemis.

"I doubt it, but that makes it all the more sweeter to kick its butt again!" Artemis said and laughed as we through the front door.


	4. Artemis's Story

Chapter 3:

Artemis's Story

Dinner was ready by the time Artemis and I were done with our little scrap. As we walked to the front door, Artemis suddenly stopped at the doormat and wiped her paws on it. "Almost forgot your mom's rule about no dirty floors," she remarked.

Dinner was delicious. It was so good that Artemis and I wolfed down our food almost as fast as Rod did. Rod commented on my smacking. I ignored him while Artemis showed him her "seafood".

After dinner I showed Artemis around the house. I made sure she saw the laundry room, the bathroom (then had to wait while she ran outside to use the bathroom on the tree), and then the bedrooms. She held her nose while in Rod's room ("What does he do in there?" she said repulsively), was really careful in Mom's room, and we stopped at my room.

"Wow! Look at all the stuff you've got!" Artemis exclaimed as she looked around my room.

"Mom didn't mention it, but the rule about no jumping on the furniture doesn't apply to my room," I informed her while watching her running toward my daybed. We were both full from our dinner and would try to move as little as possible. "Make yourself comfortable while I go take a bath." I grabbed a fresh set of underclothes and my pajamas and walked to the bathroom.

Once in there, I drew a nice hot bubble bath, dressed down, and hopped right in. My bad thoughts just drifted away as I lied there soaking. I didn't think about Tony, what happened a year ago, not anything. I did hear the door creak open, but who cares? To me the door might as well be a mile away. I just closed my eyes and let my stress melt into nothing.

"Hey!" a voice squeaked.

I jerked upright and turned my head to see Artemis slip and fall over the rim of the bathtub and into the water. "What are you doing in here? How did you get in here?" I yelled at the now soaked Eevee.

"Taking a bath with you! The door wasn't closed all the way." She blew the bubbles out of her face and smiled at me.

"Well, I could've bathed you after I was done. I wanted to take one in private!"

"Why? We're both girls, plus this saves you time!"

"Oh, alright. But this is the last time. Now let me scrub your back. Good thing no one noticed. Mom would've been taking a picture of us."

After our little bath time, Artemis found out how interesting my Dell Inspiron was. "Hey, Pro. Cedar has one of these! What can you do on yours?"

"Well, there are games, music, schoolwork, Internet, e-mail..."

"E-mail? You mean those things that ask you if you want to see their webcam?"

"Uhh...that's one way of putting it."

"What kind of music do you have on your computer?"

"Let's see." I opened Windows Media Player and scanned my digital library. "There's Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, Dixie Chicks..."

"Let's hear Dixie Chicks!"

I clicked on the only song I had that was from Dixie Chicks, "Goodbye Earl". Call me stupid, but I think that song is one of the funniest I've ever heard. Artemis was lip synching the words and giggling every now and then.

"You've heard this song?"

"Yeah, the Professor has it on his laptop too! He loves it!"

Yep, Pro. Cedar definitely had a life. In fact, I wonder where he gets the time to do his job.

"Wow, the Professor has one of these, too!" She was now at my Gamecube. "Are you playing that Smash Bros. game?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"The Professor loves that game. Wow, you two have a lot in common. He keeps muttering about something called 'Event Match 51'. Wonder what that is?"

"Yeah, I wonder." I'm going to have to call that guy. He might have a clone somewhere in that lab of his.

I sat on my bed and looked at the window. The sun was now down and stars were starting up in the sky. In Sunflower Town, there were hardly any streetlights. That makes it an ideal place for stargazers.

"Hey, Artemis. You seem really smart for an Eevee. No offense, of course. How did you get like that?"

Artemis jumped on the bed and sat by me, also looking at the stars. "I get it from my mom. She was very smart and very strong." She looked kind of sad while saying this.

"What was your mom like?

"She was the greatest Umbreon that ever lived. All opponents that tried to beat her failed miserably. Her trainer and she were best friends for a long time. Her trainer was Pro. Cedar's close friend. His name was Professor Willow."

"Oh, Willow! I've heard of him." It was impossible not to. Willow was a very famous Eevee breeder and researcher. He was known for his Umbreon.

Artemis continued. "Pro. Willow believed that all Pokemon were intelligent. There's just that problem with communication that made them unable to understand complex human speech. But my mom Luna could understand everything he said. Not only that, she could speak human, too. And when I was born, she taught me the same things that she learned, like how to read."

"Wow! That's amazing! But why are you here? Wouldn't you rather want to be back in Stone Town with your mom and Pro. Willow?"

Artemis broke out in tears when I said this. "I can't! She's dead and Pro. Willow is too! Our home was attacked by some stupid thugs. My mom thought she had them beaten, but one of them had a gun! I tried to help her but I was too scared. After they killed my mom they set the house on fire. Pro. Willow managed to put me in a pokeball and toss me out the window, but he couldn't make it out himself. They found me in the morning and instructed Pro. Cedar to take care of me. I didn't find out about Pro. Willow's death until days later."

"I'm sorry. Hey, cut it out with the waterworks, you're getting your fur soaked." Sorry folks, but I could get a little insensitive. If I get just a little sad, I'll be crying harder than Artemis. Anyway, I didn't even know about the incident. I thought he was still living.

Artemis wiped her eyes. "Pro. Cedar didn't know what to do. He had an intelligent Pokemon and he couldn't understand a word I said. See, Mom didn't teach me the human language. Then he found out about you! See, he heard about your little run-in with the Pichu. That's why he gave me to you!"

Oh man. How many people did Mom tell?

Artemis looked happy to get that burden off her shoulders. "Can I ask you a favor, Shonta?"

"Sure, what?"

"Help me evolve into Umbreon. I want to be just like my mom!"

"Sure. I guess you would want to grow up to be like your mother."

"Great. I don't want to do any heavy battling, but neither did my mom. She was a natural." She yawned and flopped down on the blanket. "I'm getting sleepy..." She muttered to herself as she sank into a good night's sleep.

"Goodnight, little one." I saw that it was later than I thought. I slithered under the covers, careful not to push Artemis off the bed. Thoughts on what Artemis said about her past ran around in my mind as I also drifted off to sleep.


	5. Meet Ryan and Cinder

**Chapter 5:**

**Meet Ryan and Cinder**

Pleasant day.

"Shonta..."

Soft bed.

"Hey, Shonta..."

I could stay here all day.

"SHONTA!!!"

Unfortunately, I didn't count the Artemis factor.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Artemis on my chest. "Do you know what time it is? You need to set your alarm clock," she said as she jumped down to the floor.

I sat up and looked at the alarm clock. It was actually earlier than I thought: 9:30. "I do. But that thing gets on my nerves; it's just too accurate and annoying. You're my new alarm clock." I got out of bed and walked to the dining room with Artemis following.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Artemis.

"Nah, your Mom fed me and put me out. That food's tasty, but it sure makes you go pretty fast!"

Okay, note to self: check to see if they have Tums or Gas-X for Pokemon at the Pokemon Center.

I prepared my usual bowl of cereal while Artemis walked back to my room. I was all alone this morning. Mom was at work and Rod was at summer school. In times like these, I usually sleep in and loaf around the house. But now there were two reasons why I couldn't do that today – Artemis was anxious for fun and Ryan would be too.

I did the usual preparations for the day, such as brushing teeth, ironing and putting on clothes, fixing hair, and checking my E-mail. Clothes are always a t-shirt and denim jeans, although I sometimes go Capri in warm weather. I always put my hair in a ponytail unless my hair is braided. Artemis was also preparing by grooming her fur.

E-mail consisted of a bunch of junk mail and something from Ryan. He was asking me if I heard of the sequel to I Jak and Daxter /I and informing me that he was getting his new Pokemon this morning. He'll then come by my house to hang with me for the rest of the day. "Looks like you got a new friend on the way, Artemis. Actually, two friends."

Artemis's ears perked. "Really? Who?"

"My best friend Ryan and his first Pokemon. Ryan and I grew up together and are working toward being Pokemon researchers. He'll love you!"

"Okay, as long as he doesn't ask me on a date."

I giggled and closed my inbox. "Let's go outside. It will be a shame to let all this sunshine go to waste."

Outside in the backyard is my favorite place to loaf. Too bad that rude Spearow tore apart my hammock; it would've been perfect for loafing on. Oh well, the soft grass will just have to do. I lied down in the mowed grass and watched the clouds float by.

"Don't you do anything besides relaxing? Let's go somewhere!" Artemis whined.

"I need to reserve my energy for today. Besides, I don't want to go anywhere without Ryan. Last time I did, he rode my back all of the next day. Luckily, he sent that E-mail pretty early. That means he should be here pretty soon. So relax with me."

Artemis sighed and lied down next to me, closing her eyes. I copied her and let my mind drift. Ah, mind drifting. No need for thinking, caring, worrying, breathing...

I Breathing!?! /I 

I I can't breathe! /I 

Someone was holding my nostrils shut!

I opened my eyes and stared into the blue eyes of another person. "Mind drifting again? Sometimes I wonder if you don't think enough, Shonta!" the person said. He let go of my nose and watched me shoot up into an upright position.

"Hey Ryan, how was your visit with Pro. Cedar?" I said while poking Artemis. It seemed she relaxed so much that she was sleeping.

"Alright. Looks like your visit went just as well." He picked up the Eevee and looked over her. "Hey nice mark," he said while rubbing Artemis's crescent moon mark.

"Her name's Artemis. Where's your Pokemon?"

"Well..." He sidestepped and revealed a Cyndaquil. It looked like it was really nervous. "His name is Cinder. I'm not sure, but I think he's afraid of humans."

"Hi, Cinder! How are you?"

Cinder squeaked and hid behind Ryan again. "H..H..Hi..." he stammered.

"I...I...ammm...f-fine."

"Yeah, I think so too. Either that, or he really needs to use it."

I stood up and shared a high five with Ryan. "Oh! Guess what? I It /I came back."

"Yeah, they should've kept Tony in juvenile hall."

"No, my gift!"

"That airhead slime sent back that gift to you? What a snob!"

"NO, MY ABILITY TO TALK TO POKEMON!!!"

"Oh, that. No need to scream at me. You really need to specify. When did it return, yesterday?"

"Yeah, while I was talking to Artemis at Pro. Cedar's lab." Oh, boy. Although Ryan and I were best friends, we did have our little arguments. Maybe Ryan was joking with me. He's never this flaky.

Ryan set down Artemis and started messing with his spiky blond hair. "I was having one serious hair day this morning. Mom thinks I should cut it."

"No way! Let it grow a little more and find you some funky sunglasses. People will think you're Vash the Stampede."

" I Trigun /I . Oy." Obviously he hadn't caught the new series on Cartoon Network yet.

"Hey, why don't you translate what Cinder said to Artemis just a few seconds ago?"

"He said, 'Please don't hurt me.'"

"Okay, maybe he's just a wuss."

Ryan and I sat down and watched Cinder talk to Artemis. Artemis was asking Cinder question after question. The last one was a doozy.

"Hey Cinder! Did Ryan's mom tell you 'The Rules'?" Artemis asked the scared Cyndaquil.

"Wh-What rules?"

"The ones where she looks really creepy and almost makes you pee on yourself!"

"Oh...those. Yeah."

Ryan sighed. "Mom made Cinder pee on himself just minutes after she met him."

I laughed. "She probably laid down 'The Rules'. I'm surprised Artemis stayed so cool."

Ryan laughed back. "Our moms are weird. By the way, Pro. Cedar wants to see us sometime today."

"Okay. Let me grab my bike and backpack and we'll go over there now."

Cinder tugged on Ryan's shirt and said something to him.

"Um...translation, Shonta?"

"Cinder said that he wants to go back in his pokeball. It's safer in there."

Artemis sighed. "He's definitely a wuss."


	6. Fanning the Flames

Mareo and Anime: Thanks for replying. slaps him on the back Congrats! You're my first review!

**Fanning the Flames**  
  
I ran inside and grabbed my backpack with my essentials for the day. I made sure I packed my lunch; Pro. Cedar was sure to feed Artemis while we were there. I looked for my newest sketch pad because I wanted to observe and draw the Scyther that I saw yesterday. After I found it under my bed, I stuffed it and some other things into my backpack and ran back outside, almost forgetting to lock the door.  
  
"Okay Artemis, I guess you'll be traveling in my backpack," I said to her while setting my backpack to the ground. "Will Cinder be traveling in his pokeball or is he comfortable riding in your backpack?" I asked Ryan.  
  
Artemis climbed in my backpack and looked up at me. "Why do you even ask, Shonta? You know he'll probably be scared riding in Ryan's pack! Besides, what if he gets sick and throws up in there?" I put the pack on my back and climbed on my bike.  
  
"I'm not scared! I just don't want to tumble out and bruise myself! I'll go in the pack. I'm claustrophobic anyway," Cinder said to Artemis.  
  
I told Ryan what Cinder said and waited for Cinder to slowly and nervously climb into Ryan's backpack. He nervously smiled as Ryan strapped it on his back. "See? I'm alright. As long as no one decides to..."  
  
"Race!" I said before Cinder finished his sentence.  
  
"You're on!" Ryan replied while he climbed on his bike.  
  
"Oh no..." Cinder murmured as both Ryan and I sped off.  
  
"Yeehaw!" Artemis yelled happily.  
  
We quickly passed the scenery on our way to the reserve. Although some people do have cars, they're not really needed. That's the only reason that I can give for not having my driver's license.  
  
"I'm going to hurl!" Cinder groaned.  
  
"As long as you don't do it on me," Artemis said.  
  
We finally stopped at the gates of the reserve, almost exhausted. "Ha! I beat you so don't try to deny it like you did last time!" Ryan crowed.  
  
"Oh please! You need to get glasses, because I was in first from start to finish!" I told him.  
  
"Maybe in your daydreams, but you need to get back to reality!" Ryan said as we started up the driveway to the lab. We always raced to the driveway, but we never had the energy to go all the way up it at full speed. Both of us knew that we always tied although neither of us admitted it.  
  
We stopped at the door of the lab and let Artemis and Cinder out of our backpacks. Artemis blinked at Cinder who was practically hugging the ground. "Weirdo," she simply stated.  
  
"Hey! You shouldn't be saying anything, Artemis! Ryan kept popping wheelies! I was lucky I didn't make skid marks on the pavement," Cinder whined.  
  
"Okay, you two stop arguing before you both go in your pokeballs," I said to the two. "And stop popping wheelies before I pop you one, Ryan." All three of them made faces at me.  
  
We left our bikes next to the entrance of the lab and walked out into the grassy field. If Pro. Cedar was anywhere this time of day, chances are he would be anywhere outside in the reserve. That was the problem. The reserve was well sized, and even goes into the forest. Plus, not all of the Pokemon were friendly.  
  
"What are you doing, Artemis?" Cinder asked. Artemis had her nose to the ground, sniffing here and there.  
  
"What does it look like? I'm tracking the Professor! I have a good sense of smell, and it smells like he went...that way!" Artemis darted off toward the forest in front of us.  
  
"Hey Ryan, Artemis has Pro. Cedar's scent!" I said to Ryan.  
  
"Looks like it. We better hurry up before we lose her!" He sprinted after the Eevee with me following.  
  
"Oh, man! I'm still wiped out from the bike race," I panted out.  
  
"Wait for me!" Cinder shouted.  
  
We all followed Artemis to the edge of the forest, then waited as she stopped, sniffed some more, then turned and ran along the edge. Soon we came to a well-hidden path, almost invisible from a distance. We were careful as we ran after Artemis, pushing branches out of the way as we went. When we finally caught up to her, we found a sight that made us stare in awe.  
  
It was a huge tree in a small clearing. What made it different from the other trees was that it was as wider than tall. And on it were lots and lots of Kakuna. And where there are this many Kakuna, there's bound to be some Beedrill nearby.  
  
"Whoa..." Ryan and I said together.  
  
"You said it," Artemis and Cinder said together.  
  
"Where's Pro. Cedar?" Ryan wondered.  
  
"I'm right here," we heard a voice whisper from behind the tree. Pro. Cedar emerged from there and waved. "You have to be quiet. One sudden noise and we'll be in big trouble."  
  
"What are you doing here? I'm surprised you're not full of holes already!" I whispered.  
  
"I'm doing some research on the behavior patterns of guard Beedrill," he replied.  
  
"Guard Beedrill? I don't see any Beedrill," Ryan said.  
  
Cinder was frantically looking for the Beedrill, whimpering. "I want to go home, I want to go to bed, I want to get out of here, I want to...AHH! BEEDRILL!" He suddenly screamed at a sleeping Beedrill. In one second, the sleeping Beedrill was no longer sleeping.  
  
"Nice going, Einstein! Now he'll go after your cowardly butt!" Artemis shouted at Cinder.  
  
"I'm not a coward! I just don't want to be stung!" Cinder shouted back. Apparently, there was no more need for whispering.  
  
The Beedrill responded to the shouting intruders by loudly calling for reinforcements. Soon the whole clearing rang with the sound of angry buzzing.  
  
"Shonta, why don't you tell them that we don't mean any harm?" Ryan nervously suggested.  
  
"Ryan, we just violated their space and gave them a rude awakening. DO YOU THINK THEY WANT TO LISTEN TO US NOW!?!"  
  
"Let's quit arguing and run!" Pro. Cedar said.  
  
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the Beedrill appeared from the hiding places above our heads and swooped at us. Ryan scooped up Cinder as I picked up Artemis and we both ran behind Pro. Cedar. Behind us was the buzzing of what could be thirty or more Beedrill, all wanting to use us as human pincushions. It almost seemed as if they wanted to wear us down before finishing us off.  
  
We finally reached the field. Artemis jumped out of my arms and got into an attacking position. Cinder just clung onto Ryan, whimpering like before. Any Pokemon that heard the buzzing stood ready for an attack.  
  
"Hey Cinder! Help me out, would you?" Artemis called out.  
  
Cinder looked sadly up at Ryan and jumped down. "I knew it was going to be a bad day today," he said.  
  
The Beedrill then emerged from the forest, and the little courage that Cinder managed to gather quickly dissipated as he ran back to Ryan. Even Artemis was starting to back up. As I thought, about twenty-five to thirty Beedrill were hovering in front of us and starting to surround us.  
  
"I don't get it. We're out of their territory. Why are they still after us?" I asked the Professor.  
  
"As you already know, Beedrill are very territorial and quite aggressive. They rarely stop chasing the intruder before attacking them. Think of it as them making sure we 'get the point'," Pro. Cedar explained.  
  
"Ha ha. So funny." Ryan said dully.  
  
One of the Beedrill was significantly larger than the others. I was thinking it was the leader. It was shouting orders to its "soldiers". "On my signal, we will attack the small loudmouth that is 5 meters away," it commanded.  
  
I quickly did the math in my head. "Okay, one meter is about slightly more than a yard, right? Dang, I never did get the hang of the metric system! So that means...Ryan, put Cinder back in his pokeball! They're going to gang rush him!"  
  
Too late. The Beedrill general definitely knew what I was talking about, and zoomed toward Cinder. Ryan quickly took his pokeball and pointed it at Cinder. "No you don't, human!" the Beedrill shouted. He flew to Ryan, tackled him to the ground, and raised one of his large, cone-shaped arm needles at him. All of this in a little more than a second!  
  
"Ryan! Oh man, looks like Twinneedle! Artemis, Quick Attack!" I was not going to let my friend get pierced by an oversized insect.  
  
"Get out of the way, Artemis! That's my trainer, and I'm going to save him!" Cinder said, much to my surprise. His back grew hot, and burst into flames. "Ember!" Fire sprang from his mouth and engulfed the Beedrill general. It looked like it completely missed Ryan, although it must have been pretty hot down there.  
  
The general barely managed to fly back to his troops. "Retreat! Return to the base!" he instructed the smaller Beedrill. The swarm flew back into the forest with two of the soldiers helping the general.  
  
We, on the other hand, were just staring at Cinder as the flames disappeared from his back. He stood on his shaking legs for a while then collapsed on the grass.  
  
"Umm...wow," I said in amazement.  
  
"Yeah. That's the last time I call anyone a wuss," Artemis agreed.  
  
"I didn't know you could be so gutsy. What a pal!" Ryan said while hugging Cinder.  
  
"I'm sorry about teasing you, Cinder. You just acted like a scaredy cat to me, that's all," Artemis told Cinder.  
  
"Okay, maybe I was a little scared then, but I just had to do something about the Beedrill."  
  
"But you did know that the general could have just commanded his whole swarm to attack you, right?"  
  
"Umm...no."  
  
"You are so cool."


	7. An Old Friend

**An Old Friend...Sort of**  
  
All of us decided to keep away from the forest for the rest of day after the Beedrill attack. Pro. Cedar told us that they also like to carry a grudge for a while. We followed the Professor into the lab where he informed us of some news.  
  
"I got the news from the Symposium. You guys have the scholarship! Congrats!" he exclaimed.  
  
Ryan and I exchanged a high five. Ecruteak College was very expensive, and this was a scholarship that would pay for everything on the bill. The Symposium only gives out a handful of these each year. We worked hard for days on the essay for the scholarship application.  
  
"Is that where you're going, Shonta? Are you and Ryan going to leave me and Cinder behind?" Artemis said softly.  
  
"Don't be silly! Of course we're not. Besides, we checked out the college. They allow trainers to let their Pokemon roam the college. Of course, they lay out strict rules for that. If I can remember, one Pokemon of a maximum size per trainer can stay in the room with them while the others can live in this giant park. They even give classes and sessions to strengthen the Pokemon's skills and attacks. I've heard of gym leaders all over the world coming and giving classes."  
  
"Plus good food and new friends," Ryan added.  
  
"That sounds good!" Artemis chirped. "Hey Cinder, what do you think?"  
  
Cinder looked like he was still shaken up from the fight. "I think I better eat before I collapse."  
  
"Sounds good to me. Pro. Cedar, think you can feed Artemis and Cinder for us?" I asked.  
  
"No problem. It's time for some of the Pokemon in the reserve to eat anyway." He walked into another room with Artemis and Cinder closely following him.  
  
Ryan and I walked back out to the field where some Pokemon were feeding. I quickly recognized Rosie, Ms. Miller's strongest Miltank. Rosie was a chipper Pokemon that rarely fought but had a mean Rollout. She made some of the best milk outside of Goldenrod City. I bet she could outdo Whitney's Miltank. She looked busy so I didn't bother her. I would see her tomorrow. I turned to Ryan who was making a sketch of the oversized Beedrill that attacked him.  
  
"Hey Ryan, did you see Tony yesterday?" I asked him.  
  
"Yeah. Strangely, he moved back out."  
  
"Really? He was only here for one day."  
  
"I know. From what I heard, he just gathered a few of his belongings and creeped out of here last night. Ilex Forest is dangerous, but his high-level Spearow should be enough protection."  
  
"Wait a minute! That Spearow couldn't have been that strong! Artemis knocked it out in one hit!"  
  
"No way! That Spearow was _so_ close to evolving! Artemis must be one tough cookie."  
  
The news of Tony's disappearance actually worried me. Sure Tony was a low-down jerk, but he was more of a rebel without a cause than anything. Who knows what might happen to him?  
My stomach growled as loud as an angry Houndoom. I forgot how hungry I was. I took out my lunch and inspected it. Sliced oranges, pears, and kiwi with bottled water. I like taking fruit for lunch sometimes, especially when it gets hot outside. Guess Ryan had another big breakfast because all he had was a pack of peanut butter crackers. "Do you run on Energizer batteries or something?" I asked him.  
  
Artemis, Cinder, and Pro. Cedar then walked toward us, Cinder looking like he had one too many helpings. Pro. Cedar was pushing a cart of Pokemon food. "Anyone want to help me pass around the grub?" he asked us.  
  
"Sure!" Ryan and I said together. I took a couple of small bowls while Ryan grabbed a huge bowl. I stared at the big bowl and laughed. "Who's this for? Wait, let me guess. Rod's coming over for lunch."  
  
"Unless your brother turned into that Lickitung over there, I doubt it," Pro. Cedar said. He pointed to a Lickitung that was near the pond across from us. It was drooling and standing impatiently.  
  
"A little advice, Ryan: set the bowl down, smile, and get the heck out of there before that thing decides to eat you too," I told Ryan. I walked toward some grass-types with the bowls I had. There sat a couple of Oddish and a Bellossom. "Eat up!" I told them. I returned to the cart for some more food.  
  
Ryan, on the other hand, was having some trouble. He set down the food in front of the Lickitung but was having trouble avoiding being licked. "Just to save you the trouble, I do not taste like chicken," he nervously told it.  
  
I felt a tugging on my pants leg and looked down at a bunch of Pichu and Pikachu. I set the bowls down in front of them and smiled. "Must have been starving, huh?" All the Pokemon nodded at me and went back to eating except one of the Pikachu. It was staring at me like I was...  
  
Artemis noticed the staring Pikachu and ran toward it. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" she asked.  
  
"It's you! I found you! By gum, it's you! I remember you!" the Pikachu yelled. The other electric-types didn't seem to care about this amazing discovery.  
  
"What do you mean? I haven't seen...wait a minute! You're the Pichu that I met last year!" I suddenly remembered the Pichu that I spent time screaming with. It must have grown up and separated from its family. I looked down at Artemis and saw that she had a different reaction. She was rolling on the ground laughing.  
  
Ryan and Cinder ran to see what was so exciting. I told them about the Pikachu and told the Raikou story to Cinder. Cinder looked at Artemis who was still laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, what's so funny?" the Pikachu repeated.  
  
"Oh man, you sound like the Crocodile Hunter if he inhaled helium!" she finally said. I had to admit, that's exactly how he sounded.  
  
"That's not nice," Cinder scolded.  
  
"Yeah! Shut it or I'll knock your block off!" the Pikachu threatened.  
  
"On the other hand...ha ha!" Cinder joined Artemis in her moment of laughter.  
  
"This is not an Australian accent, anyway! It's British, and I got it from my mom," the Pikachu explained. "My mom" kind of sounded more like "me mum". His accent almost made me laugh.  
  
"So, how's it going, uh...what's your name again?" I asked the Pikachu.  
  
"Oh, I forgot! I didn't tell you my name. It's Static." His cheeks sparked to show how tough he was.  
  
"My name's Shonta, this is Ryan, and the Pokemon that could show a little respect over there are named Cinder and Artemis." Cinder and Artemis finally stopped laughing and stood up with tears in their eyes. "Nice to properly introduce ourselves. Why are you here?"  
  
"Why Shonta, aren't you glad to see me? I looked all over that forest to find you. When I finally found this town two weeks ago, this bloke caught me and put me in this place." He pointed to Pro. Cedar. "Which is why I want to give a request." He pulled me closer and made sure no one was listening.  
  
"Get me the heck out of here! I've been going bonkers in this hellhole. Everyone I've met in this friggin' prison either wants to kill me or bore me. I want adventure, I want security, I WANT MY LAWYER!" He clung to my shirt for dear life.  
  
I sweatdropped and pulled him off of my shirt. "Okay, let me clear it with the Professor." I walked to Pro. Cedar and mustered up my best sad face. "Professor, is it okay with you if I keep this Pikachu?" I looked down at Static who was shyly standing behind my leg. "It really likes me and wants to go with me."  
  
"I don't know, Shonta. I already have a trainer in mind for him," Pro. Cedar.  
  
"But he knows me! Besides, giving a Pikachu to a beginning trainer is like giving a chainsaw to a five-year-old."  
  
"Like you?"  
  
Dang, he got me there.  
  
"But he does seem attached to you, so go ahead. Of course, he does need a pokeball."  
  
I told Static what he said. Static was hesitant at first but agreed. "It's a deal!" I said.  
  
I reached in my pack and pulled out a pokeball. "In you go!" I threw it at Static and waited as the pokeball shook once, twice, and three times. Static was mine! I ran to the others and told them of the good news.  
  
"Alright! A new friend to play and battle with! Now where's that brother of yours, Shonta?" Artemis said.  
  
"I know what you're thinking, Artemis! At least make sure Mom isn't looking before you and Static jump him," I told her. I let Static out of his pokeball.  
  
"Is Shonta's brother mean and dangerous?" Cinder asked Artemis.  
  
"He's mean, but he's not dangerous! You and I can take him down easily! And Static can show him his 'shocking' personality." She gave an evil laugh.  
  
"I'm game," Static said.  
  
"No you're not! I don't want to get in trouble for your ideas. You do remember 'The Rules,' do you?" I asked Artemis.  
  
"Yeah, I remembered. But she said no attacks _inside_ the house. She didn't say anything about _outside_."  
  
"What's 'The rules'?" Static asked me.  
  
"Let me explain this, Shonta," Artemis told me.  
  
"Static would be cool to have around the house," Ryan said.  
  
"I don't know. With that personality of his, I could in for one heck of a ride," I said.  
  
Pro. Cedar approached us with some more bowls of food. "Changing your mind already?" He asked me.  
  
"Are you kidding? I like wild rides!" I checked my watch. 1:00 p.m., but I didn't feel like exploring the reserve anymore. I considered getting out of the reserve and exploring the town when I heard a voice call out from the driveway.  
  
"Hello, everyone!" It was Ms. Miller, Rosie's trainer. "Professor, is my dear Rosie ready?"  
  
"Yes she is," Pro. Cedar said back. "Don't worry, she's alright. She's still very healthy." Health is a big factor on how delicious and nutritious a Miltank's milk is, and Rosie was the prize Miltank at Ms. Miller's farm. Ryan's and my family were her favorite customers, and Rosie adored our visits. Ms. Miller could take Rosie to the Pokemon Center, but sometimes Rosie preferred the reserve.  
  
Rosie heard her trainer's voice and came running. She stopped at me, smiled and waved. "Hello, children. It's so nice to see you. I thought I heard you during that little scrap with the Beedrill, Shonta. Tell Ryan to stop by the farm later today for his mother's order."  
  
"You know I can understand you?"  
  
"Of course! News travels fast, you know!"  
  
"Nice to see you today!" the Pokemon said. Seems like Rosie was such a frequent visitor to the lab that the Pokemon recognized her.  
  
I told Ryan what Rosie said. "We should get out of here. See what everyone else is doing."  
  
"Sounds good. Let's walk this time," Ryan told me. "See ya, Professor!"  
  
"Bye, Rosie!" the Pokemon said.


	8. Every Rose Has Its Thorns

**Every Rose Has Its Thorns**  
  
Ryan and I exited the reserve with the Pokemon following us. We still had some time before our mothers came back from work, so we decided to show the Pokemon the town. Artemis and Static were in front of us while Cinder was walking beside Ryan.  
  
The first stop was Madame Francine's Flower Shop. Madame Francine kept the tallest sunflowers in Sunflower Town: the tallest of them was seven feet tall. She's the perfect person to go to for flower arrangements for all occasions; she gave me a good discount on a bouquet for Mother's Day. Madame is also a grass-type Pokemon fan, so I had to say hi to her and Tulip, Poppy, and Lavender.  
  
Madame gave us her best smile from the porch of her shop/house. "Hello! It's always nice to see children your age enjoying the sunshine. Are you here to browse? The girls are out back and I have a new selection of potted plants." Her voice rang with the tone of the French. She looked down and saw the Pokemon. "Oh my, what cuties! I never saw silkier fur on an Eevee before. And I never saw one with a mark like the one on her forehead." She picked up Artemis and cuddled her.  
  
"She looks nice," Cinder remarked.  
  
"Yeah, for someone that looks like she should be one of Harry Potter's professors," Static said.  
  
"And I see that you have a new Pokemon too, young Ryan." Madame put Artemis down and patted Cinder's head. "Just make sure he's careful around the plants and the girls. They're sensitive to intense heat, you know."  
  
"Madame, is my 'special order' ready?" Ryan asked her.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"The one for my mom's birthday."  
  
"Oh, that one! Give me until tomorrow and it will be ready to deliver."  
  
"Thanks! Let's go see the others, Shonta." We walked to the greenhouse, where she keeps her sunflowers.  
  
Artemis sniffed her fur and smiled. "Wow, whatever perfume she's wearing sure smells nice. I remember spilling something on myself long ago that smelled just like this. I smelled like I rolled in a flower bed for three days."  
  
"That's nice for you, but I don't want to smell like flowers," Static said.  
  
"Hey Artemis, do you know anything about these girls that the lady kept talking about?" Cinder asked her.  
  
"No, I don't. Shonta, who are these girls that are supposed to be back here?"  
  
"They're Madame Francine's grass-type Pokemon; Tulip, Poppy, and Lavender. Most people joke that they are the 'guard dogs' of the flower shop. I don't know about Poppy and Lavender, but Tulip is the toughest of the three. She tends the plants when Madame's not there and will definitely attack you if you damage the goods." I looked at Cinder who was already starting to shake. "And she _really_ hates fire-types."  
  
Cinder gulped.  
  
I opened the door to the immense greenhouse and looked around. Hanging plants, potted flowers, and herbs of all kinds were strewn throughout here. I checked out the potted flowers while the Pokemon went straight for the sunflowers close to the northwest corner of the greenhouse. Ryan just walked around, probably looking for "the girls".  
  
Cinder looked up at the sunflowers in awe. "Wow, they're huge!"  
  
"Yeah, but where are those Pokemon that Shonta talked about? I thought I smelled them when I came in," Artemis wondered.  
  
"I can't smell anything but your perfume," Static said while holding his nose.  
  
"Maybe they're outside," said Cinder. He stuck his head in the sunflower field for a good whiff. _Very_ bad idea.  
  
"What are you little monsters doing!?!" said an angry voice coming from the other far corner of the greenhouse. A pissed-off Bayleef stomped toward the Pokemon and glared at Cinder. "Dirty little monsters sticking their noses in my flowers! And what's this? A Cyndaquil? Madame has gone mad! This destructive little rodent will set everything on fire! This will not do! Get out of here before I throw you out!" Her accent had a touch of French to it.  
  
"I-I'm s-s-sorry! Please don't throw me out!" Cinder stammered.  
  
I looked over at the Pokemon and winced. "Uh-oh. Looks like Tulip is fussing at your Pokemon," I said to Ryan. "You better do something before she trashes the greenhouse in the process."  
  
"Okay. I talk while you translate."  
  
Ryan and I rushed to Tulip while she was picking Cinder up using her Vine Whip. "Wait, Tulip! Don't be mad! Cinder wasn't going to do anything bad with the plants. Shonta, translate." He released Cinder from the Bayleef's green clutches.  
  
I told Tulip what Ryan said. "He's just appreciating your hard work," I added.  
  
Just then there was a rustling in the sunflowers as a Skiploom and Jumpluff emerged. Tulip changed her glare from Ryan and me to the other "girls". "And what were you two doing in there?"  
  
The Skiploom yawned and rubbed her eyes. "We were taking a break, Madmoiselle Tulip," she said sleepily.  
  
"You mean sleeping on the job! We have work to do today and you let this fiery mouse poke around in Madame's prize sunflowers! What a pitiful excuse for you to give, Poppy," said Tulip furiously.  
  
"But you pushed us so hard last night, Madmoiselle Tulip. We worked while you bossed us around," the Jumpluff said quietly. She and Poppy also had French accents.  
  
"An even more pitiful excuse from you, Lavender! For this I will dock pay from both of you for the next two weeks!" I don't know where she got this attitude from, but it definitely wasn't from Madame.  
  
"But Madmoiselle, we don't get paid!" the two smaller grass-types said together.  
  
"Then I shall take away your break time for two weeks!" Tulip practically screamed.  
  
"This doesn't sound good, Ryan. Get ready to run out of here," I told him.  
  
"Why? What's happening?"  
  
"The boss is close to firing her employees."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Hey, shouldn't you be yelling at us instead of them?" Artemis asked Tulip. "I mean, they did stay up during the night, didn't they?"  
  
"Stay out of this, little dog! I do not need some puppy to tell me how to run things!" Tulip demanded.  
  
"How rude," Artemis muttered.  
  
"This coming from the Pokemon that said I sounded like the Crocodile Hunter if he inhaled helium," Static pointed out. He stepped forward and pushed his face into Tulip's. "Look, I don't know much about business ethics or anything, but these are my friends and if you don't apologize to them I'll have to get busy with you."  
  
Poppy and Lavender gulped and ran back into the sunflower field. They knew what was coming. I hope Static knew as well.  
  
"Get out of my face you rude, stupid, filthy little rat," Tulip said harshly.  
  
"RAT!?! I'll show you who's a rat!" He unleashed a Thundershock on the bossy Bayleef with great satisfaction.  
  
Guess not.  
  
Tulip just stood there like nothing happened. "I knew you were stupid, but this takes the cake. One simple static bolt cannot hurt me."  
  
"Oh, bite me," Static said. He stuck his tongue out at her.  
  
"THAT DOES IT!!!" Tulip roared. She yelled at the top of her lungs as she unleashed a ton of Stun Spore from her curled up leaves at us.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" I yelled. All of us bolted for the door, trying to exit before the attack took effect. Ryan reached the door first.  
  
"Open it, open it!" we all yelled at Ryan.  
  
"I'm trying!" Ryan yelled at us. Then he turned to us with a horrified look on his face.  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked him.  
  
"I forgot. Madame put a security lock on this door after the last time she got robbed. We can't open it from either side without the key."  
  
"Don't just stand there!" Static exclaimed frantically. He started banging on the door with us joining him.  
  
Madame finally came and opened the door. She looked down and saw our pitiful forms laying down, completely paralyzed. "My goodness, what happened here?"  
  
Ryan barely was able to open his mouth. "Your Bayleef is a bad motha..."  
  
"Shut yo' mouth!" the rest of the paralyzed said.  
  
"I'm just talking 'bout Tulip."  
  
"We can dig it."


	9. Forgotten Memories

**Forgotten Memories**  
  
"We were lucky that Madame had some Paralyze Heals," I said as we left the flower shop.  
  
"We would have been luckier if someone hadn't closed the door to that greenhouse," Ryan stated.  
  
"Don't be blaming the wind; it was all Tulip's fault. That stupid, stuck-up, overgrown weed should have left us alone," Static said.  
  
"Yeah, that Bayleef is scary and bossy," Cinder added.  
  
"Well, it was rude of you to Thundershock her, Static," Artemis commented. "Besides, saying 'bite me' is not the best way to solve an argument."  
  
"You're right. I should've told her to kiss my..."  
  
"Say it and you go back in your pokeball, Static!" I shouted. "Ryan, want to trade Cinder for Static?"  
  
"Now let me see. A polite, soft-spoken fire-type for a rude, electric-type bigmouth. Let me think about that...no."  
  
"Fine! I didn't want a wuss for a Pokemon, anyway," I joked.  
  
"Hey! I heard that!" Static said.  
  
"I'm not a wuss," Cinder whined.  
  
"I'm just kidding!" I said.  
  
Artemis stopped and looked toward the edge of town. Most shops like Madame's are usually near the edge, where there is a lot of green space. That's the best place to go to catch wild Pokemon without having to go into the forest.  
  
"What is it Artemis?"  
  
Artemis sat down and sighed. "Can we rest? I feel so tired."  
  
"Me too," Static agreed. "Let's sit over there and take five."  
  
"Come on guys," I told them. "Where's your energy?"  
  
"We ran out after that thrilling moment with Miss Hands Off The Merchandise," Static groaned.  
  
"I pretty much ran out after the fight with those Beedrill," Cinder said.  
  
Come to think of it, I was wiped out as well. I must have realized it when the adrenaline in my system wore off. "Feel like relaxing for a while, Ryan? The Pokemon and I are spent."  
  
"So am I. Let's take a rest and then head home."  
  
The field was full of soft, green grass and flowers of all kinds of colors. Oddish and Rattata as well as lowest-evolution bug-types were going through their daily lives there. Flying-types such as Pidgey and Tailow were flying overhead. Although Tailow are native to Hoenn, they're at home here as well. It was a perfect opportunity to sketch my new Pokemon in an outdoor environment.  
  
Ryan and I sat down on the grass while the Pokemon talked with each other. I pulled out my sketch pad and started drawing Artemis. She looked a little smaller than the average Eevee, but that was probably because she wasn't full grown. Her tail was almost as long as her body. After I was done with her I continued with Static who seemed to be bragging about something. Slightly larger than Artemis, he seemed to carry a tough guy look. Don't ask me how – he looked like other Pikachu. He just had that sort of aura around him.  
  
I looked over at Ryan's sketch pad. He was drawing Cinder while muttering about something. "Penny for your thoughts?" I asked him.  
  
"No thanks, it's on the house," he replied. "I was just thinking about when I was very little. My father used to show me pictures of all these fire-types when he had the time for me, which was hardly ever. That was why Mom and Dad divorced; they were growing apart. Now my mom thinks Dad's a deadbeat, but I still thank him for my extreme interest in fire-type Pokemon. Do you ever think of your father?"  
  
I paused. When was the last time I ever thought of my dad? I never thought about him. Heck, I never even _knew_ him, much less about what happened the first years of my life. It was like my memory was blank those few years. My memory began when I first opened my eyes in that hospital room when I was six and saw Ryan and his mom, and as far as I know, so did my life.  
  
"Never. My mom thinks that Dad's a deadbeat, too. Divorce is a drag, you know?" I told him.  
  
"You never thought of your dad? Have you even asked your mom about it?"  
  
"Once. I'll never ask again."  
  
"What happened?" I told him about the conversation two months ago.  
  
_I was in the kitchen watching Mom wash the dishes.  
  
"Hey, Mom?"  
  
"Yes, Shonta?"  
  
"What was Dad like?"  
  
A shocked look appeared on Mom's face as she dropped the mug she was putting away. I stepped back as it shattered on the floor.  
  
"Don't you ever speak of your father! You hear me? Never! Go to your room and clean it up NOW!" she roared._  
  
"She yelled at you? Your dad's that much of a jerk?" Ryan asked me.  
  
"Yeah. I never brought the subject up again. I don't know where he lives or what he does or why he doesn't even talk to me. The way Mom reacted that time told me that I didn't want to know."  
  
"That's really weird. Hey, does this look alright?" He held up the finished sketch of Cinder.  
  
"Looks cool." I heard the sound of a car horn and stood up. It was Mom and Rod. "Time to go back home." Mom and Ms. Steele work at the same office building in Goldenrod City. They both leave home and come back at the same time.  
  
"Need a ride?" Mom asked Ryan.  
  
"Sure! Come on, Cinder!"  
  
"Artemis and Static, it's time to go!" I called out. Then I remembered. "I forgot! How are we going to take our bikes home? They're still at Pro. Cedar's lab!"  
  
"Don't worry. Pro. Cedar called me and said he would drop them off at the house," Mom said.  
  
"Ms. Jones, may I stay at your house for a while?" Ryan asked her.  
  
"Of course you may! You can even eat dinner with us." She looked at Static and Cinder and smiled. "They're so cute! Of course, they need to learn the rules of the house."  
  
"Don't worry, I filled them in." I told her.  
  
Rod glared at the new Pokemon as they climbed in the car with us. "How come the Professor always gives starting trainers such runts?"  
  
Static lowered his eyes at Rod and frowned. "Is this the jerk that you were talking about, Artemis?" he asked her.  
  
"The one and the same. He's just blowing steam," Artemis reassured him.  
  
"He's mean. I don't like him," Cinder said quietly.  
  
"Me neither, but I'm not scared of him one bit. He tries anything and he'll have enough electricity in him to turn on a TV just by brushing up against it," Static said boldly.  
  
"Remember 'The Rules', you guys," I warned them.  
  
"Oh yeah. Better wait until the guy's outside," Static said.  
  
Static definitely was going to be trouble.  
  
"Wow! Look at this computer!" Static exclaimed. "Do you have music on this thing?"  
  
"What kind of games did you ask for your birthday tomorrow?" Ryan asked me.  
  
"Wow, your birthday's tomorrow? Why didn't you tell me?" Artemis said.  
  
"Oh man, I forgot my birthday! I was so excited about getting Artemis that it never even crossed my mind!" I couldn't believe that I would be nineteen in a matter of hours.  
  
"You forgot your own birthday? Gee, what's next? Where you live?" Static joked.  
  
"Wow! Are you going to have a birthday party?" Cinder wondered.  
  
"A small one. And like every year, my cousin Terri is coming to visit with her Vaporeon named Aqua," I said. "Terri comes from Goldenrod City, where she's the queen of her favorite sport: shopping. Every Princess Day she comes by and drags me to the finest department stores in Goldenrod. The best reason I go with her is because those stores sell everything, from clothes and music to everything a Pokemon could want or need."  
  
"Wow! Sounds like a ball," Static said.  
  
"Yeah, for girls," Artemis replied.  
  
"What's Aqua like?" Cinder asked me.  
  
"She's strong and cool. She's the only Pokemon that ever violated 'The Rules' on purpose."  
  
"Which one?" he asked me.  
  
"The one about not using any attacks inside the house. She used Water Gun on Rod when he made her angry. Almost sent him through the wall."  
  
"Cool!" the Pokemon said together.  
  
Ryan turned his back to me and sighed. "I'm disappointed in you, Shonta. You changed for the worst."  
  
"What do you mean? What's with you?"  
  
"I've been in your house for thirty minutes and not once have you challenged me to Super Smash Bros. Melee."  
  
"Oh, I thought you were tired of having your butt handed to you, but we can play if you're feeling lucky."  
  
"You're on!"  
  
After ten matches and about an hour, Ryan left for home. Our bikes were waiting for us outside. Since their house is only a couple houses down, he and Cinder walked there. I couldn't wait until tomorrow so Ryan and I could try out my new games that I would be getting. Mom gives me my presents in the morning and waits until the party in the evening until she gives me the best one.  
  
The night went by faster than I thought. Dinner was normal except for the fact that now both Artemis and Static showed Rod what they were eating. Luckily bath time was quiet and in private. The night ended with a little Amateur Night with the two Pokemon singing their favorite songs. That's when I found out that Static was into rap.  
  
"Gee, you're pretty good!" Artemis said about Static's rapping.  
  
"Yeah, for some reason I heard it all the time where I lived," Static replied.  
  
I went to bed earlier than usual with Artemis on the bed with me and Static curled up in a blanket that I gave him on the floor. Ever since Ryan asked me about my father I could hardly concentrate on anything else. It's not like my memory's that bad; I had to remember something about him. After all, Mom sometimes did say things that indicated that Dad lived with us for a while. Now because of this I couldn't even sleep, but the Pokemon sure could. Lucky.  
  
I watched as the radio clock beside my bed reached midnight. I was now a nineteen-year-old insomniac. "Happy Birthday to me," I quietly said to myself.  
  
Suddenly there was a sudden chill in the room. I sat up and got ready to check the air conditioner when I heard something. It sounded like voices whispering amongst themselves. My blood froze as I looked around the room.  
  
"Who's there? Show yourself!" I demanded as bravely as I could.  
  
The voices went from whispering to giggling. "Don't worry, you'll remember soon enough," they said creepily.  
  
"What do you mean 'remember'? Remember what?"  
  
Drowsiness overcame me very quickly. The last thing that I remember before going to sleep was a single voice cackling.


	10. A Dark Past

**A Dark Past**  
  
I finally opened my eyes, prepared to meet the sunshine of another day. Instead, all I saw was darkness. Complete and penetrating darkness. This couldn't be my room. "Okay, I'm waking up now!" I told myself.  
  
"I'm afraid you can't awake or do anything right now. My Hypnosis is very powerful. You're stuck in here with me until the morning." It was that voice I heard. It sounded very close. It gave a cold laugh.  
  
"I want to know three things: where am I, who are you, and what do you want with me?" The darkness was growing unsettling. Who knows who or what was talking to me.  
  
"Why, we are in the very deep recesses of your mind." The darkness got lighter as the voice spoke to me. In front of me floated a Haunter, smiling at me. "My name is Cackle, with a C, of course. I belonged to your father. I want to help you find who you are and what your father is like."  
  
"You knew my father? Tell me what you know."  
  
Cackle cackled happily. Now you know how he got his name. "He was a very great man. Very interesting and very inspiring. His body was like an eggshell for the darkness within. You could see it in his eyes." The darkness returned to its original state.  
  
I looked around for Cackle and heard something. It was my own whimpering. I tried to stop but couldn't. "What do you mean? I don't really understand you."  
  
Cackle appeared in front of me and smiled again. "Poor baby. So afraid and confused. I guess you need some sort of ...visual. Let me see what I can bring up."  
  
The black background changed into an outdoor scene. It was like we were in a TV and someone turned it on. I looked around and found a little girl with her Pidgey. The girl looked so familiar.  
  
"Can you remember anything about that child?" Cackle asked me.  
  
In a split second, all of this data poured into my memory bank. Someone not only turned on the light bulb of my brain, they turned on the high beams! "I not only remember that girl, but I'm pretty sure that was me when I was at least five! But where are we? This isn't Sunflower Town."  
  
"You're right! It's not; it's Ecruteak City. You were born and raised here. At least, for a while you were." Cackle showed off the city, smiling like he was Vanna White.  
  
"That's nonsense! I've lived in Sunflower as long as I can remember!"  
  
"And how much can you remember?" he reminded me.  
  
"Not much," I admitted. "Is that...Feather? Is that my Pidgey on my shoulder?"  
  
"Yes, it is. You and that weakling were meant for each other." He gave a small grunt.  
  
"I would go and say hi to her, but I think this is one of those 'Christmas Carol' moments, huh?"  
  
"You would be right about that."  
  
I watched Feather fly off Young Shonta's shoulder and into the starlit sky. "Feather was my best and only friend. She was a good singer and good company. There was one little problem..." I watched Feather crash into someone's weather vane.  
  
"You could say that she was the George of the Jungle of Pokemon," I finished. How could I talk about my early childhood when I couldn't remember a second of it a few minutes ago?  
  
"I remember it just like it was yesterday. Your father used to love being in the darkness. He would make you spend every night outside with Feather," Cackle told me.  
  
Another Cackle appeared in front of my younger self and scared her silly. She yelled at him and ran into the house. Feather zoomed by the ghost-type and barely managed to fly through the open window of Young Shonta's room. "Yeah, but I didn't seem to like _you_. You were the scariest thing I've ever seen," I told Cackle.  
  
The scene changed from outside to inside the house. I quickly recognized my mother but was curious about a man standing beside her. I must be my father. He looked handsome but reeked of something extremely creepy. You could almost see and smell his true nature. Now I knew what Cackle was talking about when he gave his "eggshell" description. It was like you couldn't feel anything inside that man. Nothing but cold, dark emptiness.  
  
Young Shonta ran to her dad, crying. "Daddy, make Cackle stop scaring me!" she pleaded.  
  
"Shut up, you little brat. Cackle was just being himself. Now dry your tears and go back outside," he growled.  
  
"Can I just go back in my room, Mommy? I'm sleepy," she asked Mom. Mom looked like she was pregnant with Rod at that time. And was that a black eye I saw? It was! She looked like she had a broken nose, too.  
  
"Well, I suppose so..." Mom said undecidedly.  
  
"Thanks, Mommy!" She ran to her room with Dad glaring at her.  
  
"I'm starting to remember it all now," I told Cackle. "I loved looking at the stars and the moon, but I didn't like being in the dark. I was afraid what was hiding in there, or worse, what wasn't. I believed in demons and real ghosts. I even had a nightlight in my room!  
  
"Mom told me that I was born at exactly midnight. She said that very special people are always born at midnight. But when I told the other kids about this, they got scared and stayed away from me. I found out what she meant to tell me."  
  
"Yes, the myth is that there are very powerful half-demons called Umbra that are born at midnight," Cackle explained. "They embrace the darkness because they are darkness themselves. They are said to grant wishes to anyone that could catch them at night at the price of someone's life. Also known is their ability to fill people's minds with fear and drive them insane. Umbreon are very close to being true Umbra. Your father seemed to believe this so much that he was angry when his daughter turned out to be a sunny little girl couldn't stand to be by herself at night. Of course, I couldn't blame him. He had the legend only half right, though. Umbra are born at exactly midnight under a full moon."  
  
"That doesn't make sense. There's always someone or something being born at every minute of the day," I said to him.  
  
"That's true, but not everyone who's born is normal, am I right?" he answered.  
  
We were in my old bedroom now. Young Shonta was hugging Feather as she was crying. I heard shouting and cursing through the closed door. Feather was singing softly to try to comfort me.  
  
"Every night Dad would yell at and curse Mom for giving birth to something like me. I got so tired of this that I decided to run away one night. This must have been that same night." I watched my younger self pack some things into a backpack, then put Feather in her pokeball and climb out the window.  
  
The scene again switched to Young Shonta sitting under a tree in the woods someplace. "I ran to a place where I'd hoped that Dad would never find me: the woods near the Tin Tower. The only thing that was wrong with it was that it was crawling with nocturnal Pokemon, including ghost-types. That and the fact that it was darker in the forest than it was at the house. I was scared to go anywhere until a thunderstorm started. It just came out of nowhere. Strangely I was comforted by this sight and fell asleep soon after.  
  
"I knew then that thunderstorms usually had lightning, and I loved to look at the lightning. I thought that lightning was so cool, and I was not afraid of it at all. It was bright and astounding. If you went close enough to it you could feel its heat as well. My mom to this day thinks it's weird that I would rather stay outside and enjoy the lightning rather than watch it from inside."  
  
The background, instead of gradually fading to the next part, decided to just change the channel in my brain. I must not have known what happened between the last scene and the current scene. Now my young self was hanging upside-down over a raging river with her hands and feet bound with rope, and my father was holding me by the ankles. The younger Cackle was floating by my father, laughing at me. Both I and my younger self watched in horror as the pokeball containing Feather slipped out of her pocket and into the river. Younger Shonta was next.  
  
"You're useless to me, just like that bimbo for a woman and that cursed life inside her!" he thundered. "You have no reason to exist." He dropped her into the river without a second thought. Young Shonta screamed on her way down. Everything went black after that.  
  
I dropped to my knees and felt tears stream down my face. "There's no way to doubt myself since these are my memories. So Cackle, what happened to me? How did I survive? And where's my father?"  
  
"How should I know? Your father and I never lived to make sure you were dead," he replied. "Right after we dropped you, this big, yellow, tiger-like Pokemon came and put us both out of our misery."  
  
"Raikou killed you? So you really are a ghost! At least something good happened during this nightmare. But why did he do that? I'm sure that he doesn't go after every person that drops their helpless child in the river. And don't tell me you went through all this mess just to tell me about this."  
  
"Not really. You see, I'm just following the rules."  
  
"What rules?"  
  
"Just try to remember this: when did we try to kill you?"  
  
"How should I know? It's not like I was wearing a watch when it happened."  
  
"It was midnight on this day! I can't haunt anyone until the day I was killed!"  
  
"But where's Dad? Shouldn't he be haunting me, too?" Then it dawned on me. "Wait a second. You went from 'we' to 'I'. Did you try to kill me or was it a group effort?"  
  
Cackle was starting to crack. "Well, um..."  
  
"Dad had no part in that scheme, did he? He was just a puppet and you were pulling the strings!"  
  
"You're right on target, kiddo! Well, almost. He did do _some_ of the dirty work."  
  
"Tell me now, Casper!"  
  
"Well, do you remember the legend of the Umbra? Well, it's true. You're looking at one right now. He managed to catch me in that dreaded pokeball and force me to grant him a wish. He said he was willing to take a life. But I got to choose which life."  
  
"So you took his. He was a soulless puppet, no, a ventriloquist's dummy. You were talking through him the whole time." I remembered his cold, empty eyes. He _was_ just a shell. "So what did he wish for?"  
  
"Who cares, he didn't live to enjoy it."  
  
I had enough of this beast. "Thanks for the info. Now get out of me."  
  
"Like I said, you can't get rid of me until morning."  
  
"Oh yeah? This is my mind. I can eject you whenever I want!" I watched as he faded away.  
  
"Go ahead, get rid of me. But first, don't you want to know whose life your father wanted to take for that wish?" He was trying to stall.  
  
"I'll bite. Whose life did he want to end?"  
  
"Yours." He laughed one last time before disappearing completely, leaving me alone in the darkness.


	11. Under a Full Moon

**Under A Full Moon**  
  
_I looked down at my now seven-year-old hands as the teacher spoke. "We have a new student who comes from Ecruteak City."  
  
I looked up at a small black girl donning pigtails and wearing sunglasses. She was standing in front of the class, looking down at the floor with a nervous look on her face. "Hi, my name's Shonta Jones. I am pleased to meet you."  
  
"There's a seat right next to Ryan. Why don't you sit there and we'll get straight to our lessons?" the teacher asked her while pointing to the empty seat next to me.  
  
Shonta slowly walked to the desk and sat down, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. My attention was caught by her wrists, which looked like they were burned in some way. I finally gathered the courage to talk to her.  
  
"Hi, my name's Ryan. I don't want to sound mean, but why are wearing sunglasses? Do you have a black eye or something?" I asked her quietly. Don't ask me why, but she almost looked like the type that would punch your lights out if you said anything stupid. Maybe it was just the sunglasses.  
  
She looked up at me and bit her lip. "No, my mom just wanted me to wear them. She said my eyes looked weird." She went back to looking at her desk.  
  
Tony got up from his desk in front of Shonta's and glared at her. "I'm curious, too. Come on, take off those stupid glasses!" His hand shot forward and snatched the sunglasses from her face.  
  
"Stop, Tony! That's not a nice thing to do! Teacher, make him stop!" I yelled. The other kids were just looking at the blackboard. They weren't real and neither was the teacher.  
  
Shonta got up from her desk and stood in front of Tony with her eyes closed. "He's right, stupid; it's not nice. It's not nice to mess with someone who's not normal." She opened her eyes and glared at him. They were glowing yellow! "It's not smart, either." She gave an unearthly growl while the classroom was engulfed in darkness.  
  
"Shonta, what are you doing? Are you okay?" I asked her. "Tony, say you're sorry before she hurts you!" I looked around. Tony was gone!  
  
She looked at me with tears in her eyes and stopped her growling. "Why am I like this? Make it stop, please!" Her eyes returned to normal. She took a step forward and fell to her hands and knees. "Why can't I stay normal? Why do I have to be so alone? Everyone hates me!"  
  
"What do you mean? I don't hate...whoa!" She was pulling a disappearing act! I started to panic. "Are you doing this, Shonta? Don't go away!"  
  
"You don't need me. No one does. I have no reason to exist." She slowly faded to nothing, leaving me alone in the darkness._  
  
I woke up with a start and looked around. Good, it was just a dream. I remembered when I first met Shonta at school, and fortunately her eyes were not glowing. But what was with the burns on her wrists? They looked like they rubbed against something rough too long. And the glowing eyes and her saying that she wasn't needed didn't make any sense at all. I could ask her in the morning, but that'll be quite the birthday killer.  
  
Cinder was awake and looking at me from the other end of the bed. I must've woken him up when I was turning in my sleep. "Cynda...quil?" He rubbed his head and yawned.  
  
"Sorry if I disturbed you. Did you have nightmares, too?" Man, I wished I could understand him.  
  
Cinder shook his head and looked outside the window beside the bed. I looked out the window and saw everything outside soaking wet. "Oh, the storm kept you awake. I didn't even hear it." I looked at the clock: two in the morning. It only lasted two hours or less.  
  
Cinder dived under the covers as thunder sounded far away. Although the storm looked like it was intense when it came, the sky was now clear and star filled. The only evidence that there was a storm was the wet scenery and the occasional thunder and lightning.  
  
I watched Cinder crawl under my blanket and poke his head next to my pillow. "Oh man, I can't go back to sleep! I wonder if Shonta's up as well? If she is, she's probably on her porch watching the lightning." I took another glance out the window and ended up doing a double take. She was outside, but not on the porch; she was walking toward the forest north of our houses in her pajamas! She was walking like she was drunk.  
  
"What is she doing out there? I thought she was weird, but walking outside in her pajamas and barefoot when it's wet outside? Where's Artemis and Static? At least one of them should have known she was gone!" Then I noticed two shapes running behind her: Artemis and Static. They were shouting at her and probably coaxing her to go back to her bed.  
  
"Cynda cynda quil! Quil quil!" Cinder panicked. He jumped down and ran to the front door of the house.  
  
"Whoa, wait up! I'm wearing less than she is!" I slipped on a shirt, some jeans, and a pair of shoes and ran after Cinder.  
  
I ran outside and looked around for Shonta. "Where could she have gone in such a short amount of time? Cinder, think you can sniff her out?" I asked him.  
  
"Cynda!" He sniffed around on the ground and pointed toward the forest. I caught a sight of Shonta stumbling through the trees. The sound of Artemis and Static shouting came from the same place.  
  
We sprinted toward the sound, not bothering to run back home and grab a flashlight. We ran through trees and eventually into a clearing with a stream at one end. The stream looked deep and rough, probably from the storm. I finally found Shonta sitting near the stream with Artemis and Static sitting next to her. She looked back at me and smiled sadly.  
  
"Shonta, what are you doing out here? You could get..." I took a good look at her face and gasped. She looked terrible. I could get over her bad hair day easily, but her eyes looked glazed and she was breathing heavily. Chances are she had a fever, too.  
  
"I wanted to look at the full moon. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to get out and take a walk," she said drowsily. She was talking as though she was still sleeping. It was as though her energy was completely zapped.  
  
"Yeah, but at two in the morning in your pajamas and no shoes? And in the middle of the forest? Look at you! You look like the last place you should be is somewhere like here!" I felt her forehead. She was burning up. "Let me take you to my house at least."  
  
"I had a dream. My dad was in it," she said dreamily. "He wasn't very nice." She laughed weakly and showed me her arms. Her wrists had the same burns that I saw on her in the dream. "Rope burns. Daddy was angry."  
  
"He did that? But I've never seen them before; don't tell me you did that to yourself." I noticed the same kind of burns on her ankles.  
  
"No, he did it. Cackle said so," she said. She was starting to sound delirious.  
  
"Who's Cackle? Did he know your dad?" I pulled her to her feet.  
  
She slowly nodded. "He was Dad's Haunter. He refreshed my memory about my past. I think he did something else." She fell back to the ground. Artemis and Static futilely tried to pull her back up while Cinder pushed.  
  
"If it was a Haunter, it was probably Nightmare. It should've stopped when you woke up. But it's just a nightmare; it doesn't mean that it was real."  
  
"It was and don't you try to make me think anything else!" Her look of drowsiness temporarily disappeared as she stood up and glared at me with tears in her eyes. "My dad hated me and tried to drown me! I saw myself tied up and dropped into the river! I don't even know what happened to me after that! My past is cloudier now as was then! Why did it have to be like this?"  
  
"Whoa, no need to be shouting at me about this! Your mom knows about these things!"  
  
"What's the use? I'm useless; Dad says so and he's right. Why else would he try to kill me? He wanted me dead even before I was born. Why else would he think that if I...I..." She stopped there and went back to sitting on the ground, crying full force.  
  
"Because he's an extreme jerk and needs to be taught a lesson." I looked down at the Pokemon and saw their tears.  
  
Artemis climbed in Shonta's lap and wiped her tears with her paw, coaxing her while doing so. Static jumped on her shoulder and licked her cheek lightly.  
  
"I don't think I'm normal, Ryan," she said quietly.  
  
I was suddenly hit with flashbacks from the dream, how she made her eyes glow and the classroom disappear into darkness. "Of course you're not normal. Who is?"  
  
"I mean a bad kind of not normal. I mean, how am I able to talk to Pokemon? Maybe there's something wrong with me."  
  
"If you can talk to Pokemon, that's not something wrong. I'd give anything to do that. It's not like your eyes were glowing or anything." That didn't help me with the dream, it just made me remember it more.  
  
Shonta stopped crying and stroked Artemis's fur. She was still breathing heavily. That wasn't a good sign. "But when Dad dropped me, how did I survive? There was nothing to hold on to and I was sure there were sharp rocks down there, plus there was a fast current."  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that you don't think you're human?" I asked her skeptically.  
  
"I don't know. Do you think I'm human?" she said with a small smile.  
  
"Don't know and, quite frankly, I don't care. You're you and that's all that matters."  
  
"But I feel so alone. No one knows the way I feel about this. I wish I could find someone as weird as me." She set down Static and rubbed his head.  
  
"Don't worry, Ryan's just as weird as you," said a voice.  
  
"Yeah right! He can't stand storms and he can't understand a word you say," Shonta said.  
  
I suddenly had the urge to scream. "Uh...Static said that?" I asked Shonta.  
  
"You knew what he said?" Shonta asked me slowly.  
  
"If he said that I was as weird as you, then yes."  
  
Shonta laughed out loud like she just saw heard something out of _Who's Line Is It Anyway_. "I can't believe it! I wonder how that happened?"  
  
"I have no idea. Now we're both weirdos!"  
  
"Oh boy, you've really lost it," Static told me.  
  
"Thanks, Static!" I said back.  
  
"No prob, psycho!" he said.  
  
Shonta coughed and slumped forward. She was getting worse. "I think I'll go home now," she said.  
  
"You can stay at my house for the night. We'll then go to the clinic and have the doctor check you out in the morning." I helped her to her feet.  
  
"I don't think you should be going anywhere," a gruff voice said from the shadows.  
  
"Who's there? Cinder, get ready to attack!" I told him.  
  
A group of Pokemon emerged from the trees. Small, grey dogs with yellow eyes cut us off from the way home.  
  
"Oh no, they're Poochyena! I hate those things!" Static said shakily.  
  
"We're going to be dog chow!" Cinder said.  
  
"We're going to have to go through these guys just to get home," Artemis said.  
  
Static looked up at me and shook his head. "Boy, you sure picked the wrong time to get weird," he said to me.


	12. Dog Fight

**Dog Fight**  
  
I stood there with one of Shonta's arms slung around my neck as I looked at the pack of Poochyena. Their drooling mouths gave an ominous sign as to why they were there. I just hoped they didn't want who I thought they wanted.  
  
"I've heard of these guys. They're part of a pack of renegade canine-types who definitely don't like humans," Static explained. "I don't know much, but most of them are rejected first-level evolutions, especially Poochyena. They'll go out and gang up on humans. I don't know how, but they sometimes get their greedy paws on some sick and injured human and...eat them."  
  
"That's not good!" Artemis said.  
  
"But they're so...little! What harm can they do?" I asked Static. Artemis glared at me for the remark.  
  
As if on cue, a dark shape slithered across the grass and stopped in front of the Poochyena. It was a snake-like Pokemon with long front fangs and menacing markings.  
  
"Not much, but a Seviper can soften the threat for them," Static answered.  
  
"See, that's what you get from walking outside barefoot," I told the limp form of Shonta.  
  
"Like I would know a snake would sneak up and bite me on the foot," she muttered.  
  
One of them stepped forward and spoke to the Seviper. "I see you've taken the liberty of preparing our dinner. Yes, the female will do nicely." The others nodded in agreement.  
  
"Sorry to see you go, Artie!" Static said.  
  
"He's talking about Shonta. And call me Artie on more time and I'll let them have you!" she replied.  
  
She stepped up to the lead Poochyena, trying to look as intimidating is she could (which wasn't much). The leader of the Poochyena was barely inches taller than Artemis. He didn't look like much, but his teeth looked like they were made to tear us apart. "Listen you underdeveloped mutt, my trainer needs help. And you need to go back to your mommies and daddies before I start going crazy on you!"  
  
"Is it just me or is Artemis starting to sound like me?" Static asked us.  
  
"Great, this is going to be worse than Stun Spore," I said while remembering our little run-in with Tulip.  
  
The Poochyena leader started to laugh uncontrollably. "Hey guys, did you hear that? The runt here says she's going to get crazy on us!"  
  
Artemis slightly growled at that remark.  
  
"Maybe it's the full moon! It can make anybody crazy!" another Poochyena chimed in.  
  
"Oh yeah? It can do more than that, suckers!" Artemis practically roared. As soon as she finished her sentence, her body started to glow and change. Her legs grew longer, her fur shortened and her whole body became sleeker.  
  
"Whoa, evolution time! Hey Shonta, are you getting this?" I asked her.  
  
"Huh?" She was practically asleep. "Oh. She must be inducing evolution."  
  
"Wow, you must be so excited," I said sarcastically.  
  
"Very."  
  
By the time Artemis stopped evolving, she was two feet taller and twice as intimidating. "Okay, which one of you made that runt crack?" she asked the gang.  
  
Half of the Poochyena were gone in seconds. That left four that still had the guts to take on the Umbreon, including the leader and the Seviper. The Seviper was the only one that could have any chances of bringing Artemis down, and even he didn't look too strong.  
  
"I can defeat you with my fangs!" the Seviper hissed as he slithered away from the Poochyena.  
  
"Sure, if you can catch me!" Artemis said. Suddenly one Umbreon became seven in two seconds, completely surrounding the Seviper.  
  
"Whoa, Double Team! She must have known that attack when she was still an Eevee!" I said.  
  
"Which one is the real Artemis?" Cinder asked.  
  
"They all are...in a way," I said.  
  
"Go, Artemis! Show that lowdown snake in the grass who's boss!" Static cheered.  
  
"Sorry, but this snake in the grass is splitting this scene!" the Seviper said.  
  
"Not without a parting gift you're not!" the seven Umbreon sisters said. They all dashed forward and tackled the Seviper on all sides. The snake was as good as KO'ed.  
  
Six of the Umbreon disappeared as we all stared at what happened. I didn't ask the others if they saw it; I already knew the answer. Even Shonta looked temporarily recovered from the poison as she had her mouth wide open.  
  
The leader of the Poochyena closed his mouth and growled at Artemis. "You will not get away with this!"  
  
"Check your eyesight, loser, because I already have," she said quietly. She calmly started walking toward the trees between the clearing and home and turned her head at us. "Come on guys, let's go back. I'm exhausted."  
  
"You think I would go on a hunt without backup?" the Poochyena leader asked her. "Think again!" He tilted his head back and let out a long howl.  
  
"I thought those wimps were the backup!" Artemis said.  
  
"Yeah, but every now and then, something called evolution happens," Static replied.  
  
"We're still gonna be dog chow!" Cinder whined.  
  
"No, we're not!" Artemis snapped.  
  
In front of Artemis emerged four more dog-types, only they were bigger and meaner with a more wolf-like appearance. Oh man, Mightyena.  
  
"Yes, we are!" Cinder snapped back. "I'm going back in my pokeball!"  
  
"Wait, Cinder! What type is Mightyena, Ryan?" she asked me.  
  
"If I'm not mistaken, they're dark types," I told her. "That means you can take them out, Cinder!"  
  
"What? Why me?" he asked.  
  
"Because fire is strong against dark-types!" I said.  
  
"Okay, but next time Static does it," he said.  
  
"Sure, and why not shock everyone else while I'm at it? The ground's wet, and wet things conduct electricity!" he yelled.  
  
Cinder walked out from behind my leg and lit up his back. He was preparing an Ember when we heard something: more howling, but deeper and creepier this time.  
  
"Now what? Hasn't Snoopy's family bothered us enough already?" Artemis groaned.  
  
"That's not anything related to Snoopy, unless he's part Houndoom!" Static panicked.  
  
"WHAT!?! Now we have a dog show going on?" I said.  
  
"I'm sick of this babble! You're first, Blacky!" one of the Mightyena said. He took a step toward Artemis and froze. At first, I thought he changed his mind about Artemis being able to be beaten by him. Then I looked behind me and realized what he was so scared of.  
  
Two more canine-types were standing at the far end of the clearing: a Houndoom and an Absol. Behind them were a bunch of Houndour and more Poochyena. The Houndour and the Poochyena stayed in the trees while the Houndoom and the Absol ran across the clearing and stopped at me and Shonta.  
  
"Enigma and Athena, it's so nice to see you," the lead Poochyena said. "I was just talking to these charming humans when a Seviper came and bit the female on the heel. She would've been in more danger if I didn't..."  
  
"Stop lying! You know you have connections with that snake!" the Houndoom roared. "I've heard that you've been using it to help you with your hunting like you can't do it yourselves. But I've also been told that you've been targeting humans instead of the usual. Is that true?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Actions like that make you and your pack lazy and dishonorable," the Absol said. "You should only hunt other Pokemon, and should never ask for outside help."  
  
"Athena speaks the truth," the Houndoom agreed. "Now take your pack and that snake and get out of here. If I here news about this again, you will be exiled from Ilex Forest."  
  
"Can they do that?" I quietly asked Static.  
  
"Yeah! Like you humans have a certain government for Johto, so do Pokemon. The Ilex Forest is so big they need someone to call the shots. That's where Athena and Enigma come in. In rank they're second only to Celebi himself," Static explained.  
  
"How do you find out about this stuff?" Cinder asked him.  
  
"An ancient version of the Internet, of course."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"Word of mouth!"  
  
The Poochyena groaned and retreated into the forest while the Mightyena picked up the Seviper and also retreated. That left us alone with Athena and Enigma. I had this strong urge to drop Shonta and run, but that would make me a spineless coward.  
  
The Houndoom name Enigma came and inspected the bite on Shonta's heel. "How did this happen?" he asked Shonta. Shonta was so out of it she could only groan in response.  
  
"Um, she did mention a Haunter. My guess is that she was knocked out by Hypnosis and was still partially drugged when the Seviper bit her," I speculated.  
  
"Was she outside when it bit her?" Athena the Absol asked me.  
  
"Needed fresh air," Shonta managed to say.  
  
"And how long has it been since it bit her?" Enigma asked.  
  
"Quite a while. She's gotten worse since then," I said.  
  
The two canines stayed silent for a while. Artemis walked toward us and sat by Shonta while this moment of silence was happening. Finally Enigma started walking away from us and toward the trees on the east side. He stopped at a berry tree and inspected it.  
  
"Is this girl your trainer, Umbreon?" Athena asked Artemis.  
  
"The name's Artemis, and yes I am," Artemis replied.  
  
We heard a loud thud as Enigma slammed himself against the tree. He did this three times and then stopped.  
  
"Come here, boy, and bring your friend with you!" Enigma called out.  
  
I dragged Shonta over to where Enigma was standing. I looked down at the ground and saw a few small berries.  
  
"Eat a couple of these and you'll recover rapidly," Enigma told Shonta.  
  
"So I take two and call you in the morning, Doc?" Shonta said. She was always well enough for humor. I lowered her to the ground and waited as she picked up two berries and popped them in her mouth. "Just like medicine; you don't want to take it even though you know you have to."  
  
Enigma smiled slightly and walked past us toward his partner. "I suggest you take care from now on. If you need help, chances are we're never far away," he said while walking. He approached Athena and they both ran back to their group.  
  
"Well, that was weird. Let's go home before we get caught in another gang war," Shonta said brightly. The berries worked faster than I thought.  
  
"Wow, everyone must be heavy sleepers. All this happened and I don't hear anyone shouting for peace," Static said as we started walking back to our homes.  
  
"We're smack dab in the middle of Ilex Forest. This is as peaceful as it's going to get around here," I said.


	13. Nineteen and Not Feeling It

Hear me? Anyone? hears crickets Oh well, here's the next chapter, you mimes! Oh, and now it goes back to Shonta's point of view.

By the way, sorry for not telling you when I'm switching POVs. I'll tell you next time.

**Nineteen And Not Feeling It**  
  
I thought I would welcome the sunshine with open eyes. I thought that I would look forward to my birthday. I thought I could take on anything, even that Porky Pig of a brother.  
  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHONTA!"  
  
I thought wrong. I was still exhausted and grouchy, even with Artemis evolving and meeting Enigma and Athena. Unfortunately, I felt more ninety than nineteen. The good thing is that my family's such heavy sleepers that they didn't hear me going out or coming back in last night.  
  
I opened my eyes anyway to see Static jumping up and down on my bed and shouting at me. "Did Mom feed you rocket fuel or something for breakfast?" I drowsily asked him.  
  
Static shook his head and jumped down on the floor. "What's with you girls and sleeping?" he asked me.  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"You're sleeping the day away and so is Artemis!" He pointed to a sleeping Umbreon nestled in a blanket on the floor.  
  
"Well, she did do all of the fighting. Plus she evolved, adding to that sleepiness. And I had the worst nightmare in my life and got poisoned by a Seviper. So what did you do?"  
  
"I can't believe you guys! Just wait until I evolve into a Raichu! I'll be the one carrying all of you!"  
  
"Fine with me, I'll just let you start by picking me up and carrying me to the kitchen."  
  
"Oh, never mind." He started tugging on Artemis's black ears.  
  
Artemis opened an eye and stared angrily at Static. "Would you like me to pull your ears off?" she asked him.  
  
Static shook his head.  
  
"Then I suggest you stop immediately." She opened the other eye and slowly stood up. Her attitude seemed to have changed to suit her appearance. She definitely wasn't the Eevee she once was. Now she was more serious and intimidating.  
  
"Man, take a look at those peepers! I think you need eye drops, Artie," Static commented.  
  
"They're supposed to be red. And what did I say about you calling me Artie?"  
  
"Shutting up!"  
  
I slid out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Those berries worked like a charm, but now I was so tired. Maybe a little test run on some of my presents will charge me up. I checked my reflection and winced.  
  
"Dang, nothing can save me from this monster of a bad hair day," I said to myself.  
  
"Why don't you just shave it all off?" Static asked me. He was also wincing at the bird's nest that was my hair.  
  
"Then my head will look like a big melon. Thanks but no thanks, buddy." I looked around the hair care products and sighed. "I'm a mess."  
  
"You're a what?" called a voice from the hallway.  
  
"Who's that?" Artemis said from beside Static.  
  
"I don't know. Mom's at work and Rod's at summer school so that leaves..."  
  
"Hey, cuz! How's my favorite nineteen-year-old?" A girl slightly taller than me came from behind and held me with a bear hug. She was wearing an AKA sorority shirt and blue jeans. A bandanna covered her hair like mine would be in a couple of minutes. Beside her sat a Vaporeon that was looking over Static and Artemis.  
  
"Hi, Terri. How's it going with college hunting?"  
  
"All right. Are those your Pokemon? That Umbreon looks tight! The Pikachu looks cool, too."  
  
"This is Artemis and Static. Guys, this is Terri and her Vaporeon, Aqua."  
  
"Guess what? I'm going to Ecruteak, too! I just found out about this scholarship and applied for it before anyone else did. Now Aqua and I will be visiting you everyday!" she said. She released her grip on me and smiled brightly.  
  
"That's...great. I'm glad to hear the good news," I said with false enthusiasm. Terri was a great cousin, but she could get into a lot of trouble. Remembered when I told the Pokemon about the incident between Rod and Aqua? Well, she thought it would be a good idea if Aqua tried out her Ice Beam on Rod after that. Fortunately that part was outside the house. She didn't hit him, but she did give Rod a good reason why he shouldn't leave the house for a while after he taunts the Pokemon.  
  
"I don't think she's too happy about that," Aqua said.  
  
"Of course I am!" I told her and quickly covered my mouth. I've never told Terri about my gift.  
  
"Who are you talking to?" Terri asked me.  
  
"Well...promise you won't laugh?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"I'll tell you anyway. I can...talk to and understand Pokemon."  
  
"You lie!"  
  
"Oh yeah? If I can prove to you that I can understand Aqua, then you owe me ice cream."  
  
"Okay! Ask her who my new boyfriend is."  
  
"Hey Aqua, who's her man?"  
  
Aqua thought about it for a moment. "She doesn't have a man! She dumped him for that spiky black-haired guy on Yu Yu Hakusho!"  
  
I laughed hysterically. "Oh boy! You have a crush on Hiei?"  
  
"I do not! Okay, maybe a small one," Terri said.  
  
"Yes! Ice cream time!" I said.  
  
"Shonta's got a man at home," Static sang.  
  
"Hey, all quiet in the Peanut Gallery," I told him. "I better send an Instant Message to Ryan so he can come over." But I knew that on my birthday, he comes early. Even with a night like we had.  
  
There was a knock at the door. "There's your man," Terri said.  
  
"He's not my man," I said bluntly as I walked toward the door.  
  
"Hey, I got Hiei and you have Vash the Stampede," she said.  
  
"At least my man's for real. The only way you can get close and personal to yours is in your dreams." I opened the door and waved at Ryan.  
  
"So I'm your man now?" he said with a slight blush.  
  
"Well, you're my boy," I said in a slightly embarrassed tone.  
  
"Because if you're not serious about me, I could easily get another woman."  
  
"Fine. But Terri prefers swords over guns."  
  
"Kenshin got here first?"  
  
"Nah, Hiei just played with her heart and snatched it from her." I spotted a wrapped gift under his right arm. "Ooh, present alert! Gimme gimme!"  
  
"Gimme gimme never gets. Say the magic word," he said. Cinder walked in the house and eagerly watched us.  
  
"Now!" I snatched the present and ripped it open. "Webcam! Now I can see your nasty face in the morning."  
  
"And I can see your nappy hair. Put on a bandanna before you go outside today."  
  
"Thanks, Ryan. When Mom gets back, we can see what big gift she gets me." Mom always saves the best present until the party. With me graduated from high school, this one was bound to be a doozy.  
  
"What about the other presents?" Terri asked us.  
  
"To Mom's room!" I yelled old Batman style. I thought that this birthday was going to be just like the others, with the exception of my gift coming back. Shame on you for even thinking that, Shonta.


	14. Hit and Run, Part 1

Okay, I finally got this problem sorted out. Man, that was a mess. Anyway, I've been posting my work somewhere else so there's no need to worry about me writing up the next chapter.

**Hit And Run, Part One**

"Whoa, jackpot! _Sonic Adventure 2_ and _DX_! Thanks, Terri!"

"It's no big deal. But these clothes are off the hook!" She held up a one piece swimsuit.

"Nice, but I'm not going to beach anytime…oh, I get it. Senior trip. Must have been Mom's idea." So much for the secret of the big gift.

"Whoa, you got a lot of games! Is that a Playstation 2 over there?" Ryan said while pointing to a black box.

"I thought your brother already had one," Static told me.

"Yeah, but Mom said something about him pawning it for money to buy something," I said. "_Kingdom Hearts_ and _Final Fantasy X_? Let's hook this baby up!"

"But I wanted to try out _The Wind Waker_," Ryan said.

"I wanted to watch him play that," Cinder said.

"Well…," I started, but then there was another knock on the door. "We'll decide after I get the door."

I ran to the door and opened it. Officer Jenny was standing stiffly with her Growlithe by her side. "Good morning, Shonta. How's the family?" she said.

The others came and stopped. "Uh-oh, we're busted," I heard Static say.

"Okay. Is there a problem?" I was starting to get nervous.

"I need to ask a few questions about an incident that happened last night," she said.

"We're definitely busted," Artemis said. The Growlithe looked toward her and blinked.

"Did something happen with you last night?" Aqua asked Artemis.

"Long story. Very long story," Artemis said.

"I knew I should've stayed in bed today," Cinder squeaked.

"What happened?" Ryan asked Officer Jenny. He could barely keep his voice straight.

"Someone or something broke in the flower shop, destroyed Madame's prize sunflowers, and badly injured her Pokemon," Officer Jenny explained. "Madame's safe, but the Pokemon are at the Pokemon Center and are in bad shape. Unfortunately, they're key witnesses to the crime and they're too scared to tell us anything."

A big sigh of relief came from the Pokemon. "Sorry, we didn't see or hear anything that night," I told her.

"Actually, I came to ask you a request."

"Sure, tell me."

"I was wondering if you could come and, uh, act as translator for me."

"Who told you about that? Mom?"

"Actually, Professor Cedar informed me of it."

"And he got that from your mom," the Growlithe added.

"Sure, why not? It's not like we have anything important to do," I said with a slight touch of disappointment.

"We can go in my car," Terri told me.

It was quite the scene at the Center and the flower shop. There were cops at both places and a lot of observers trying to get a look at the crime scene. We walked in the Pokemon Center and met Nurse Joy and Madame Francine.

"Excuse me, but I'm here with Shonta Jones to interrogate the witnesses," Jenny told Joy.

"But my girls need rest!" Madame exclaimed.

"Maybe we do need to let them get their beauty rest," Cinder whimpered. After what happened yesterday, I guess the last thing Tulip wanted was to see Cinder.

"Forget beauty rest. They need to get their attitudes adjusted!" Static said angrily.

And the last thing I wanted was to get paralyzed for Static's big mouth.

"Trouble with the ladies, shorty?" Aqua asked him.

I ignored Static and turned back to Joy and Madame. "I'll only need a few minutes," I said. "Of course, I'll need my partner on this."

"Partner?" Joy and Madame said together.

I pointed to Ryan. "Ryan Steele is a trusted friend of mine and has great skills as a detective. Together this case will be closed in no time."

"Um, excuse me? You're the detective," Ryan told me.

"Fine, if you want. He'll translate since this is his first day on the job," I told Madame.

"Yes, boss," he said jokingly.

"The Pokemon are in the recovery room. Just go down the hall and it's the last door to the right," Nurse Joy indicated.

"Thanks. Hey Terri, can you look after the Pokemon while I'm doing this?"

"Sure," Terri said.

I went through the double doors and followed the directions that Nurse Joy had given. I found the three girls sleeping in there, each on a different bed. Tulip looked the worst; it looked like there wasn't a single place where she wasn't scratched. The others looked more exhausted than injured, although they had their share of bandages.

I walked to Tulip's bed first to inspect her wounds. She wasn't scratched, she was cut! My mind raced through what kind of attacks would produce such results. I was going to walk to Poppy's bed next with Ryan when Tulip woke up. She took one good look at me and sprang up on the bed.

"What are you doing here? I knew you were bizarre and crazy, but now you're here to take advantage of me!" she screamed at me.

"Take advantage of you? You making it sound like…hey, that's not funny Ryan!" Ryan was losing his poker face quickly. "I'm trying to help you by finding out who attacked you that night."

"Well, I don't know and I'm not telling anyone, especially disrespectable trainers and their bratty Pokemon!" She turned her back to me, almost hitting me with her head leaf while doing so.

"Well, that's too bad, because if we don't know who it is, it may try a second attempt to do away with you."

Tulip thought about this at first and looked at me. "Okay, I do know a bit. It was a humid night in the greenhouse, so Madame decided to leave the door open to let air in. She was worried about the chance of robbery but she figured we wouldn't let that happen."

"I'll say," Ryan commented.

"It was the middle of the night when it happened," Tulip continued. "I woke up and saw this big, scary monster eating the fruit for the fruit sale. I tried to fight it, but he attacked me some way. I don't know how, but I hurt all over and smelled blood, so I screamed for Madame. The monster then started swinging his arms all over the place and finally escaped…right through the glass."

"Ouch," I said.

"Hope Madame's got insurance for the place," Ryan said as he walked to Tulip. "You didn't get a good look at the Pokemon?"

Tulip lay back on the bed and shook her head. The spicy aroma from her leaf filled the room. "It was completely dark. I wouldn't know if it was Pokemon or human."

"If it was human, it was a crazy one," Ryan said.

"We remember something," said two quiet voices. Poppy and Lavender were awake. "For one thing, the Pokemon seemed to wait to attack until Madmoiselle Tulip attacked it. Then we heard the monster scream before it started attacking her."

"Was it an angry scream?" I asked them.

"No, it sounded more like a scream of pain," Lavender said.

"I remember something, too!" exclaimed Poppy. "Before it started screaming, it looked like it was trying to escape us, like it was afraid of us."

"Okay, thanks for the info! And sorry about the sunflowers," I told them.

A look of horror streaked across Tulip's face. "What…happened to the sunflowers?" she asked slowly.

I started to tell her, but Ryan stopped me. "Nothing! They're just fine and in perfect condition!" he said.

"Gee, no need for sugarcoating it," I said.

"Something happened to them, I know it!" Tulip panicked. She jumped down and ran out the room. Ryan and I ran after her, followed by Lavender and Poppy. We chased her down the hallway, through the waiting room, and out the front door. We all ran to the greenhouse, where we heard a scream and a thud.

Terri and the Pokemon were behind us looking at the fainted Tulip. "That's not a good sign," Terri said.

"I'll say! That place looks to' up from the flo' up!" Aqua said.

Ryan and I walked into the greenhouse where we saw why Tulip freaked out so badly. We saw the sunflowers, and they weren't just destroyed, they were _decapitated_. The flower part was completely separated from the stem.

"Oh boy, it executed the sunflowers," Ryan said.

"And with one swipe, no doubt," I added. I looked up and saw its escape route. Through the roof.

"So it chopped off the sunflowers…" I said.

"With a single swipe…" Ryan said.

"And flew the coop…"

"Through the roof…"

"Of solid glass."

We looked at each other and exchanged a slight expression of fear. "Scyther," we both said together.


	15. Hit and Run, Part 2

**Hit and Run, Part Two**

Ryan and I regrouped with Terri and the others in front of the Pokemon Center. I told Officer Jenny what Madame's Pokemon told Ryan and me and what we deduced from the damage done to the flower shop. Tulip had to be put back in the pokeball and sent back to the recovery room. Artemis and Cinder were shocked when we told them about what we saw. Static also went into a state of shock after he stopped laughing at the way Tulip fainted.

"Are you two sure it wasn't another bug-type or maybe just a flying-type?" Terri asked us.

"Trust me, birds don't do something like that," I said. "Maybe Skarmory, but not even they're that reckless."

"Oh great, Professor Cedar's really going to get the third degree," Ryan said.

"Hold on! It must've been some other Scyther," Artemis said. "Isn't the forest big enough for swarms of them?"

"Yeah, but for some reason they don't live there. The swarm that lives in the preserve is the only one that researchers have found in this forest. Either they're very elusive or they're so territorial that the forest is only big enough for one or two swarms. The other reason I don't think it was a Scyther from around here is because the Scyther that live in forests are mainly carnivorous, meaning they only eat meat," I lectured.

"So in other words, Tulip would've been a salad to that guy if he was a forest Scyther?" Static asked.

"Yeah, but luckily it was only interested in the fruit," Artemis said.

"But still, it wouldn't hurt to pay a visit to the Scyther swarm at Prof. Cedar's lab. If they didn't do it, they probably know who did," Ryan said.

"Wait a minute! We're going to see the Scyther? Up close and personal? Eye to eye? Isn't that a little, what's the word, suicidal?" Cinder asked Ryan.

"If you're so afraid, you can stay with Terri again," Ryan told him.

"Yeah, I'm planning to stay at the Center anyway. You guys are becoming hazardous to my health already," Terri said.

"No, I'm going with you. I don't want another moment like the one with the Beedrill to happen again," Cinder said.

"Famous last words," I heard Static whisper.

We walked to the lab by foot. Static was starting to get tired, so I put him in his pokeball for a good rest. We found Prof. Cedar in the lab instead of outside in the reserve. His eyes were glued to a computer screen which displayed pictures of a big city, probably somewhere in Kanto.

I silently stood behind Prof. Cedar for a minute and touched his shoulder. Prof. Cedar displayed his surprise by letting out a gasp. "Did I scare you?" I asked him.

"Don't do that, please," he said while giving heavy breaths.

"Sorry. Did you hear about the incident at the flower shop? We think a Scyther trashed it and Madame's Pokemon," I said.

"I heard of it and I'm going to tell you what I'm prepared to tell the police when they come to interrogate me: it's not any of my Scyther. It has to be some trained Scyther," he said.

"He could be right. There are some trainers cruel enough to make their Pokemon do that," Ryan said to me.

"They make them break into flower shops? I don't see the motive behind that. If I was a trainer with a Scyther, I would break into something else like some of the other stores," I said.

"Madame has had some attempted robberies."

"Yeah, but they were all during her biggest sales, and they always went after either the expensive merchandise or the cash register. Besides, plants don't make much money as stolen goods. What makes me unsure whether this Scyther was trained or not was the way it carried out its little mission."

"What makes you think that?" Prof. Cedar asked me.

"Well, according to Madame's Pokemon, it seemed unsure whether to attack or not. Then Poppy said it screamed before it attacked them. A scream of pain, she said it sounded like."

"That's unusual. Scyther, whether trained or not, usually don't hesitate to attack to defend themselves," the Professor said.

"Although I'm pretty sure your Scyther didn't do it, Professor, I still would like to interrogate the swarm. They may know something about this."

"Okay, but interrogate them from a distance. I'm not going to be responsible for finding your lost limbs and organs," he said jokingly.

"Oh man, this is going to be worse than the Beedrill," Cinder complained.

We found the Scyther swarm in their usual place. They were like the normal swarm: a leader at top rank, followed by younger male Scyther, then the females and children. We were most worried about the leader most, because he had the final say about who's welcome and who's as good as ribbons.

"Excuse me, but can I speak to the leader of this swarm?" Ryan called out from a distance.

The leader, which wasn't exactly old but looked like he was getting there, woke up from his resting place from a low branch and sniffed in the air. He scrutinized Ryan for a minute then jumped down from the branch. The other Scyther stood by, ready to attack. Cinder and Artemis did the same.

"Why have you called on me, human?" he asked Ryan in a superior tone.

"I was wondering if you could answer a few questions, sir," Ryan said quietly. Talking to the leader must have been like talking to your boss.

"I answer to no one, especially human children!" he roared angrily. Artemis took a step forward while Cinder hid behind Ryan's leg. The rest of the swarm was now standing up in an attack position.

"I know, but we think that a Scyther attacked some Pokemon last night," Ryan said in a panic.

"And you are concerned about this matter?" he asked.

"Very. We need to stop this before it strikes again. Have you seen any Scyther that seemed like they're possible of such behavior?" I asked the leader.

The leader gave a signal to the other Scyther. They calmed down and went back to what they were doing. "I have seen a young Scyther this morning. He had many injuries and was very tired and nervous. I invited him to rest with us, but he ran into the woods." He pointed to a spot in the trees that wasn't very far from the Beedrill's territory.

"Oh no, not the woods again," Cinder whimpered.

"When you say young, how young do you think he was?" Ryan asked the Scyther.

"Not too young, but not yet an adult. He looked the age that most Scyther are when they separate from the swarm and start their own."

"So this may be some Scyther that wasn't yet adjusted to life on his own," Artemis told me.

"That still doesn't explain the fruit," I said. "They should be able to look for their own food."

"Wait a minute! Sir, what kind of injuries did this Scyther have?" Ryan asked him.

"Scratches, burns, and some cuts. He looked like a whole gang of Pokemon attacked him," the Scyther said.

"Thank you, sir. That's all we needed to know," I said. I didn't like what was coming.

The leader turned and walked back to his swarm. The others did some salute and went about their daily lives.

"Well, that didn't explain all of it," Artemis said.

"We're just going to have to…" Ryan started.

"No! We are _not_ going in there looking for that Scyther!" I yelled.

"But we have him right where we want him! He has injuries, right? That means he won't be going anywhere for a while."

"That doesn't mean he's harmless! I just turned nineteen, for crying out loud! At least let me enjoy it for one day!"

"How do you think I feel? I haven't turned nineteen yet! But we have to go in there and do…something."

"No we don't. But we are the only ones that can reason with this Scyther. It's better than going in there with guns blazing."

"Um, guys? I don't think we have to worry about that," Artemis said.

"Why?" Ryan and I said together.

"Because he's already here!" Cinder screamed. He was looking at the spot that the swarm leader was pointing to earlier. In that spot was a young, exhausted Scyther. He had multiple injuries just like the swarm leader said.

"Maybe he just wants to talk," Ryan said nervously.

"Yeah, and maybe I just to be the youngest person to swim across the Atlantic Ocean. Look at him! Injured Scyther are the most likely to attack humans," I said frantically. If that Scyther took one step forward, I'll be back in bed in ten seconds.

The young Scyther just stood twenty feet from us in a relaxed position. Panting loudly, it looked at us with a desperate look on his face. Cinder lit his back and slowly walked in front of Ryan. I gripped Static's pokeball just in case we needed him.

The young Scyther started walking toward us, one step at a time. I forced my shaking legs to stay in place, but there was nothing I could do about my heart. Every time the Scyther took one step toward us, my feet would try to take one step backward.

The Scyther stopped about five feet away from us. It held up one of his bladed arms across his chest like it was ready for the Pledge of Allegiance. It was stained with dried blood, probably from attacking Tulip last night. It mouthed some words, but we couldn't hear what it was saying.

"What did he say?" I asked Ryan.

The Scyther spoke louder this time. "Help…me. Please…help…me," it said.

"Help you with what? You are being a danger to everyone in this town. Why should we help you?" Artemis said.

The Scyther took a couple more steps toward us. "It…hurts," it said slowly.

Cinder decided that this was the right time to be brave. With his back already lit he fired an Ember attack toward the Scyther. The Scyther just stood calmly and lifted his other blade across its chest. It spun around with its Sword Dance and shielded itself from the fire.

"Please go, Scyther. Otherwise my friend Artemis will attack you," Cinder said.

"Gee, what a knight in shining armor," Artemis said sarcastically.

I'll never forget what happened after Artemis finished speaking. The Scyther suddenly reared back his head and screamed. Just like Madame's Pokemon said, it sounded like a scream of pain.

"That sound…" I heard Artemis say.

The Scyther stopped screaming and looked at us with red, glowing eyes. The exhaustion on his face was gone, and in place was a look of intense hatred.

"Okay, Madame's Pokemon never said anything about glowing eyes!" Ryan said with a cracked voice.

"He looks like he just saw red!" I yelled.

The Scyther disappeared from our view using his incredible speed. "What is he doing now?" Cinder wondered.

The Scyther stayed invisible for about thirty seconds. Every now and then we heard a sound, like a rustling in the grass. After the half minute he appeared again, this time _behind us_. I whirled around and happened to catch a glimpse of him in time, but it was too late for Ryan. In a fraction of a second the Scyther had managed to slice him several times in the back before Ryan knew what was going on.

The forest rang from the screams from three: Ryan, me, and the Scyther.


	16. Face to Face

Finally, a new chapter for this site. It's been a while.

**Face to Face**

I slowly opened my eyes. It looked like I was in the human part of the Pokemon Center. The Pokemon Center in Sunflower Town also treats humans, which makes it a must-go destination for unfortunate travelers of the Ilex Forest.

I didn't even notice that I was unconcious; I only remember seeing the Scyther attack my best friend and me trying to tell him about it. How did I follow that last moment? How come I endured it without a scratch? I checked myself and lifted my right arm. A deep gash was bandaged in white on my forearm. So I did get a scratch.

"You're awake! Thank God you're awake!" Artemis's head rose from the side of my bed. She jumped on the bed and licked my face until I pulled her off of me.

"What happened? Did the Scyther get away? How did I get this?" I showed her my bandage.

"I think you tried to block one of the Scyther's blows with your arm. You're lucky that it didn't chop it off. After it did that, he just stopped and ran back where it came from." She checked the bandage on my arm.

"How long was I out?"

"For hours. It's almost dark outside. Could you let Static out? I need to fill him in on the details."

I open up Static's pokeball and let him out. Static gave a yawn and stretched on the bed. "Did I miss anything?" he asked us.

"You missed a lot! The Scyther wailed on Shonta and Ryan," Artemis told him.

"That reminds me. Where is Ryan?" I asked Artemis.

"I…don't know. They took him to another part of the Center. I haven't seen him yet."

I got out of the bed, trying hard not to use my right arm. "I have to see him. I hope he's not in a body bag."

"Are you sure? They probably won't let you see him. I know your Mom will make you go back to bed." She jumped down and sat in front of me. "You need more rest. I will not be responsible for any further injuries from your stubbornness."

"I'm not stubborn, just worried." I stepped over her and walked to the doorway. Mom walked in and blocked my path.

"Go back to bed," she simply stated.

"I need to see him," I said to her. I looked up in her eyes and saw tears. I was close to crying myself.

"He hasn't woken up yet."

"How does he look? Is he alive at least?"

"He is, but it will take days for him to recover. The doctor said that he was lucky the slashes were superficial. That Pokemon could have cut a little deeper and severed his spine."

"Is Prof. Cedar here?"

"Yes. He brought you here. He's sitting in the lobby."

I walked around Mom and down the hallways to the lobby. Artemis ran after me followed by Static. Although that Scyther cut my arm, I felt weak all over. It must have been the morphine. I found Prof. Cedar in the lobby reading a newspaper that was a few days old.

"Did you miss anything?" I asked him

"This article just caught my eye. The Azalea Town police busted some Pokemon breeders dealing with illegal practices. One of them was the conditioning of some pretty nasty bug-types, especially Scyther."

"Illegal practices? Like what?"

"Like training them to respond viciously to a certain stimulus."

"That's not illegal. They already get vicious when they see red."

"Yeah, but that's only natural. You can even train them to stop that occurrence. It's illegal to do the reverse. Scyther can be taught to respond to other stimuli the same way they react to the color red and the opponents won't know about it."

"You mean you can make them 'see red' whenever you want without the opponents knowing?"

"Yeah, and they found out the way to do it too: high frequency sounds. They press a button and a tiny device attached to the Scyther's ear will send out a sound. The Scyther will go crazy, but the other Pokemon will be unaffected because they won't be conditioned to respond to the sound."

"So that's what I've heard! The Scyther that attacked you could have come from Azalea Town," Artemis said to me. "It must have escaped the breeders and come here."

"Yeah, but who's got the button?" I asked her.

"No one. There's another way to activate the device. It may be wired to the brain. If a specific part of the brain senses pain, then it will automatically activate the device," Prof. Cedar said.

"That's why it only attacked when Pokemon attacked it. And that's why it was so afraid. That Scyther's reaction to the sound must be a reflex, like when your leg lifts when a something hits your knee," I said. I looked out the window at the dark sky. I didn't want to do it, but someone had to go in the forest and find the Scyther and that someone had to be me. What's worse was Ryan was out of commission and I had to go it alone.

"Thanks, Professor. Tell Mom I'll be back," I told him.

"Where are you going? That Scyther's out there and you're injured!" he said to me.

"I know. That's why I'm going out there. And I want you two to stay here and look after things," I told Static and Artemis.

"Please don't do this! You'll be cut to shreds," Static pleaded.

"Besides, you don't know where it is," Artemis said.

I looked out near the woods and saw two familiar shadows. "I don't, but I do know who does."

I traveled to the edge of the woods and met up with Enigma and Athena. "You two must have read my mind," I told them.

"No, but the Scyther did ask us to find help for him. You just happened to have been the first person on our list," Athena said.

"Let's go, then." I reached in my pocket and pulled out my keychain flashlight. "I never leave the house without it," I told them.

Enigma gave a small smile. "This way, please." He led the way through the forest. It was creepiest at night. In most places it was almost completely dark and crawling with Pokemon, sometimes ghost-types.

I shined my flashlight around the place as I walked. Hoothoot glared at me as well as the occasional Gligar. I remembered the last time I walked through here at night; why was I doing this again?

"We're here," Athena said solemnly. It wasn't really a clearing because the trees still blocked my view of the night sky, but there was a bit of space. It was like the branches were forming some kind of dome.

I shined the flashlight around and saw the Scyther sitting against a tree. It looked worse than before. More cuts were on its body, and there was more blood on his blades. But it was fresh this time, and it didn't look like human blood. Either it decided to carve up some more Pokemon or…

"It's cutting himself," I quietly said to myself. The others turned around and retreated back into the trees. I was close to following them. I mean, would you want to be left alone in the dark with an unpredictable Scyther?

The Scyther looked at me and quickly rose to a defensive position. But I saw some fear in its eyes. What happened to it definitely had to do with the breeders who raised it.

I gathered all of my courage and took a few steps toward it. It managed to stay in place although he looked like me when it did the same thing to me.

"Don't worry," I told the Scyther. "I'm unarmed. My name's Shonta, and I want to help you through this ordeal of yours."

The fear disappeared from the Scyther's face. Now he looked like the swarm leader when he was first talking to Ryan. "I am Reaper. I do not need help from some _human_. Now go before I attack."

Now he had me pissed. "Listen to me! You told me yourself that you needed help. Look at yourself! Did you make those injuries yourself or did someone do that to you?"

Reaper looked over himself and sighed in defeat. "My trainers did do some of it, but yes, I did cut myself. I needed to stop the sound. As long as it's in my ears I feel anger. But I didn't want to hurt anyone."

I shined the flashlight around the trees. They were also covered with deep gashes. "At least trees don't scream, because you pretty much messed them up."

Reaper walked over and stuck his face in mine. I saw the seriousness in his eyes. "I'm…sorry," he said softly.

My eyes went wide with surprise. I didn't expect to hear that from a Scyther, much less one that had been abused by humans. "It's okay. Apology accepted. Now turn your head so I can find the source of this problem."

Reaper showed me the side of the side of his head and bent down a bit. For a young Scyther he was sure big; he was practically a Scizor, standing about sixty-five inches.

"Um, could you point me to your ear?" I asked Reaper in a slightly embarrassed tone. Reaper groaned and pointed to a spot with one of his blades. I found the device attached to the inside of the ear. I yanked it off and put it into my pocket.

Reaper winced from the slight twinge of pain and stood up to his full height. His eyes traveled to the bandage on my arm. "You tried to block my attack on the human. I saw it myself," he said.

"Well, I don't really remember it. I don't even remember the pain," I said modestly.

"You didn't have to. You did it out of instinct. An instinct to protect your friend. Such a maneuver as quick and brave as yours deserves respect. It's very unique among humans." He did a salute similar to the one the swarm gave Ryan.

"You think so? Well, you're cured, your trainers are in jail, and you're free to go. What are you going to do next?" I expected for him to go off and never come back.

"I will stay with you. It would be an honor if you would allow me to be your Pokemon."

"That's nice…what? You want to stay with me? You're free to go! You don't need a trainer," I said with shock in my voice.

"You are an extraordinary human. I will keep my eye on you and be your guardian."

"I don't need a guardian, but there's no reasoning with you. You can come with me, although you'll probably in a pokeball most of the time. Pokemon like you kinda scares Mom."

"As long as I come out whenever necessary, I will stay with you."

I pulled out an empty pokeball and pointed it at him. "If you say so, buddy. But remind me to lay down the rules in the morning." Red light traveled from the ball and engulfed Reaper. I saw him get pulled in the pokeball and gave a small smile.

"I wonder how many Pokemon are weirdos like you," I said to the pokeball. I turned around and walked back to the Center with an unbelievable story prepared for the group.


	17. A Question of Trust

**A Question of Trust**

"Where were you in that condition, young lady?" Mom asked me while giving me "The Look". In was in the lobby with Mom breathing down my back and Prof. Cedar and my Pokemon watching from the sidelines.

"I was just taking a walk. You know, get a little fresh air and space," I said with my most polite voice. I knew I shouldn't have done such a thing in the first place, but I was looking out for my safety in a way.

"In the woods?"

I glared at Prof. Cedar. "You told on me?" I asked him.

"She made me," he said apologetically.

"But I caught the Scyther that was attacking everyone!" I told Mom. I opened Reaper's pokeball and let him out. Reaper looked at Mom and did a little bow.

"Whoa, what are you doing with that thing? Put it in the pokeball before it slices and dices everyone!" Static exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Static. Reaper didn't mean to hurt anyone. It was just responding to this." I reached in my pocket and pulled out the device that I removed from Reaper.

"So this is the high frequency device," Prof. Cedar said. He took the device and looked over it. "Good thing this is no longer attached to him. There's just one problem."

"What is it?" I wondered.

"Some attacks like Supersonic will still affect him. You'll have to be very careful in such situations."

I gulped and looked nervously at Reaper. "I'm sure we'll find some way around that, Professor," I said after some consideration. "Maybe we can find some earplugs for him or something."

"Please tell me that your new Pokemon is not going to be walking around the house," Mom said with a little bit of fear in her voice.

"Reaper already agreed that he will stay in his pokeball while in the house," I reassured her. "Don't worry, I already told him 'The Rules'."

"I think Reaper's pretty cool!" Artemis said. "Nice to meet you! My name's Artemis and this is Static."

Reaper looked at Artemis with a serious expression and nodded. Guess he's not much of a talker. He stayed by my side with his arms crossed.

"He's a bit cold, isn't he?" Artemis said to Static.

"Cold? He could freeze someone with those eyes of his!" Static said. He gave a little shudder.

The sound of people shouting grabbed my attention. One of the voices sounded familiar. I walked through the double doors to the human treatment wing and walked down the hallways. I stopped at one room where a patient was trying to get out of the bed, despite the doctors and nurses complaining about his condition. The patient's voice rang a bell, but the patient himself was shielded from view.

"Don't try to struggle! You could cause internal bleeding this way!" one nurse told the patient.

"I need to see her! Let me go!" he growled. He sat fully up and looked at me. Although he was covered in bandages, the blond spiky hair and blue eyes gave him away.

"Ryan! You're okay!" I said a little too happily. I walked over to his bed and sat in a chair. "I thought you would still be in intensive care with all of those injuries."

"Are you kidding? They don't even hurt," he said with a smile. "But that Scyther's going to pay for what it did to us. Cinder and I will see to that."

"Um…yeah. About that Scyther. I found him," I said slowly, careful not to get Ryan riled up.

"Alright! What did you do to him?" he asked me eagerly.

I pointed to the doorway. Reaper was standing there and looking at Ryan with his serious expression. "I kinda adopted him," I said with a nervous laugh.

"YOU DID WHAT? WE NEARLY GOT KILLED BY THAT THING AND YOU WANT TO KEEP IT?" he screamed.

"_Reaper_ was being controlled by a device that was emitting a high frequency every time he was hurt. It wasn't his fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame the breeders that raised him."

"How can anything be controlled by sound?"

Reaper slowly approached the bed and stood next to me. "My trainers put me in chains and had Pokemon attack me. I was unable to attack or defend myself. Before the Pokemon attacked me a sound would ring in my ears. Soon, every time I heard the sound, it was like my whole body was preparing to attack even though no one was attacking me. Anger raged inside me and adrenaline would pump through my bloodstream."

"In other words, have you ever heard of Pavlov's famous experiment with the dog?" I asked Ryan.

"So this guy is like Pavlov's dog with rabies?" Ryan said skeptically.

"You could say that," I said while holding Reaper back. Reaper may not be rabid, but he was still a Scyther.

"I'm keeping my eye on you," Ryan told Reaper while glaring at him.

"Indeed," Reaper replied, returning the glare.

"Hey, where's Cinder? I haven't seen him since I blacked out," I asked Ryan as an attempt to change the subject.

"They took him to the recovery room. He didn't receive any injuries except a bump on the head. The Professor thinks he got it from a rock while he was fainting from Reaper's attack," Ryan said while still glaring at Reaper.

"Ouch," I said. "Boy, I'm tired. Do you think they'll mind if I take the bed beside the door in here?"

"Be my guest. You should put him in his pokeball so he doesn't go Jason on us while we're sleeping."

Reaper quietly growled at the remark. "Don't worry about that. I wouldn't waste my time 'going Jason' on you," he mumbled. He pushed the button on the pokeball in my hand and withdrew into it.

What was with Ryan? I thought he would think that having Reaper on our side would be cool, but he was talking to Reaper like you would an ex-con. Now Reaper probably won't trust anyone for a while.

"What is with you? Reaper didn't mean to attack anyone, and here you are accusing him like he's a mass murderer!" I shouted at him.

"Ex-mass murderer, and you know just extracting the device won't cure him! All somebody needs to do is blow a dog whistle or something and he'll go back to psycho mode."

"We're just going to have to be careful about that. Besides, if his breeders conditioned him then maybe we can _un_condition him."

"Say what?"

"Remember when we analyzed Pavlov's experiment in psychology class? When the dog didn't get fed after he heard the bell, he stopped drooling after a while. If Reaper hears the sound and he doesn't get attacked, he'll stop going psycho from the sound after a while."

"You don't know that will work. This is just a hunch of yours, a wild guess."

"This is a guess. An _educated_ guess, that is. A hypothesis. And I'm going to test it tomorrow after breakfast." I turned out the lights and walked to my bed. "I'll see you in the morning." I set Reaper's pokeball on the table next to the bed.

"You scare me, Shonta," Ryan mumbled before I went to sleep.


	18. The Rage Inside

Thanks to all who have replied. To some of my readers:

Guitarprincess - Someone has to listen to Static. Artemis would go crazy if she was the only one.  
Bird1111 - Sorry about that. The files were screwed up. But I have the problem fixed!  
Arc Impulse - Now that I've looked back, I wish I wouldn't have done it so much. Oh well.  
Eleison - Oops. laughs nervously  
Crystal Light - Can't spoil it! (wink wink)

I like to do some of my chapters in the POV of other characters. This one is in Reaper's. Enjoy!

**The Rage Inside**

Why was she protecting me? I nearly killed her and her friend. So why is she being so kind to me? I grew anxious as I heard the conversation through my pokeball.

_"Ex-mass murderer, and you know just extracting the device won't cure him!"_ The human named Ryan's statement angered me to no end. He had no right to say such a thing! I rubbed my blades together while suppressing the urge to break out and opening old wounds. He was right though: the device was only half of the problem. Even when the sound stops, the rage never fully subsides. There's always a part of me that wants to fight, perhaps even kill.

_"We're just going to have to be careful about that. Besides, if his breeders conditioned him then maybe we can_ un_condition him."_ What does she mean by this? Does she actually think that this rage is like a disease that can be cured? If that's the case, then no one can cure me.

I listened to the rest of the conversation, not understanding what they were saying. The voices were quieter now so I couldn't hear. I stopped listening and drifted to sleep.

_"What are you up to, little brother?" asked a voice beside me. I turned and saw a slightly larger Scyther sitting next to me. I was in a lab, my childhood home. The other Scyther was leaning against the wall of the cage next to mine and smirking at me._

_"Let me sleep, Ripper. And I'm not your brother," I groaned._

_"We're close to it, aren't we? We were both separated from our swarm and put into this godforsaken prison. But we both will also get out of here, I promise you that."_

_"What about the other Pokemon? I promised Feather that I would free them." The Pidgey that was kept here ten years ago escaped and took a Charmander with her. Before she left I promised that I and the other Pokemon would get our freedom._

_"They will all get their freedom, and all of these foolish humans will get what they deserve." He let the light reflect off of one of his sharp blades, catching the attention of a nearby security guard._

_I shared a little laugh with him. "What should we do about them?" I asked him. "I say using them for practice with Fury Attack should shake them up a bit."_

_He shook his head slowly. "No, that's not enough. They must pay. They must_ bleed_."_

_The security guard turned to us with a drunken look on his face. "So, babblin' again are we? Pokemon should be seen and not heard." He pulled out a peculiar stick that I knew all too well. "This oughta teach ya." He pushed the stick between the bars and jabbed Ripper with it. Ripper cried out as sparks flew from the stick to his body._

_"Must suck to be a flying-type, huh?" he said with breath that indicated that he recently ate or drank something old and rotten. He withdrew the stick from Ripper's cage and stuck it in mine. I stood up and screamed from the searing pain._

_Ripper suddenly thrust his blade forward and nearly pierced the guard's side. The guard jumped back and glared at Ripper for a while and then laughed. "My, my, my! The kid's got some guts! I have half a mind to get ya outta here and make some big bucks with you! Maybe that new invention of the professor's will toughen up your brother. In the meantime, you know what happens when you get gutsy on someone. Let me get the chains." He walked to a room at the far side of my cage._

_"Everyone must bleed. He's first," Ripper said with a scowl. He looked at me as I was still trying to recover from the shock. "Take deep breaths and try not to move," he instructed me._

_"How do you do it?" I gasped. "You were shocked as much as I was, but you don't seem to be all that affected. You much be much stronger than I am."_

_"Strength has nothing to do with it. It's will. I have the sheer will to survive, plus I have the rage to match. Rage is a beautiful thing, Reaper. It's like a graceful flower that grows as it is being fed by all that negative energy. Its will keeps it alive as it is being abused while using the negative energy to make it stronger. Then, when it reaches its capacity, blooms and releases the power that it had stored. And do you know the most beautiful thing about that flower?"_

_I shook my head, afraid of the answer._

_"It never fully closes its petals. It may release all of its energy, but as long as there is life in that flower, it will absorb any negative energy it can find and pay it back double. And once it blooms, there is no chance in killing it, only injure it, crush its petals and watch as they slowly grow back and bloom again."_

_"But I don't see your rage. I certainly don't feel mine. I only feel pain."_

_"The pain is only feeding your tiny rage seedling. Once it starts to take root and grow you will feel it. It will be a pleasurable feeling, my brother. You will feel like doing anything to feed that rage flower. As for mine, it is close to blooming. But rage doesn't have to be visible to the naked eye. But when it blooms it will be a spectacular show."_

_I unconsciously inched away from Ripper's cage. How can he say things like that? It's like he's proud to be filled with rage. "But isn't rage dangerous to yourself and others?" I asked._

_"Only when you can't control it. When you can it's a force to be reckoned with. After a while it won't even feel like rage."_

_I looked up as the guard came back with a string of steel chains. He opened Ripper's cage and brought the stick back out. Ripper didn't show any signs of pain as he was tapped with it. He didn't try to struggle when the guard secured him in the chains and pushed him back in the cage. He didn't do anything when the guard cursed at him and left the room laughing. He did, however, say something that I'll never forget._

_"The strong prey on the weak, my brother, and these humans are pathetic wounded animals ready to be preyed upon."_

I woke up with a start, my whole body shaking. I let myself out of the pokeball and looked around the dark hospital room. I saw Ryan sleeping in the bed. His very scent was fuel to my rage. But it was also strangely familiar. I cleared the thought from my head and continued scanning the room. The Pokemon that call themselves Artemis and Static were sleeping on the end of Shonta's bed. They looked so pampered, probably living their whole lives in some reserve while I was tortured in that lab. I felt my rage slowly rise and suppressed that thought as well.

My eyes traveled from the Pokemon to Shonta. She was sleeping, but it wasn't a peaceful sleep. She mumbled and whimpered as she twitched her muscles. She was probably even crying; I did see a tear or two. The arm with the wound that I inflicted was resting on top of the covers and there was also something else on her wrist. It looked like a burn of some kind, but I didn't see anything of the sort earlier. I went back to looking at the first wound. It looked like it was bleeding. My mouth for some reason started to water. I then remembered something from my first days at the lab.

_"What is this red stuff?" Ripper asked me. It was feeding time, and we were served some deep red liquid in a bowl._

_"I thought you would know," I said back. I sniffed the liquid and started to drink it. It had a bitter taste to it, but I slowly finished seeing that it was the only thing that we would be given for a couple of days._

_Ripper, on the other hand, was deeply gulping the liquid like he hadn't eaten for weeks. He finished within barely more than a minute. He looked at me with his mouth and chin red. "Tasty," he simply stated._

_"You actually like this stuff? I think it's gross." I made a face and pushed my bowl to the other side of the cage. "I prefer fruit or maybe some seafood."_

_"That's weird. My swarm ate different stuff. Maybe we just have different tastes." He licked the bowl clean and sat against the wall._

I looked down and saw that my blade was trying to slide under the bandages and rip them off. I yanked it back and started to go back in my pokeball when I heard Shonta's half-asleep voice.

"Having a hard time sleeping?" she asked me. She was looking at me through half-opened eyes and smiling.

"Yes, I had a bit of a nightmare and needed some fresh air," I said, barely able to keep my voice straight.

"Why don't you go outside? I usually do that when I have a nightmare. The front door should be open."

"You don't think I'm going to injure someone again?"

"If you do, it will be my fault and no one else's," she said with a yawn. She reached out and lightly touched my arm. I pulled it back and walked out of the room.

As I walked toward the front door, I realized something: my anger was gone. No, it wasn't gone, but it was suppressed to the point that I couldn't feel any trace of it. Did she do that? She trusted me and put the responsibility for my actions on her shoulders. If my rage could not be cured, then she could at least treat it.

As I looked at the moon, I hoped that Ripper was okay and that he was far away from the nearest city.


	19. Knights to Remember

We're still on Reaper's POV.

**Knights to Remember**

My muscles tensed as I heard a rustling in the trees nearby. I turned my head and saw Athena and Enigma sitting casually and smiling at me. I walked toward them and bowed respectfully.

"At ease, Reaper. How are you faring with your new trainer?" Athena asked me.

"Bad with the girl, and worse with her friend. Although the one named Shonta seems to trust me, the boy named Ryan is very angry with my capture. If I told them about my past, they would abandon me," I said.

"We shall keep it a secret until the time comes," Enigma remarked. "It is normal for the boy to mistrust you after your attack on him. But he and Shonta will recover quickly. After all, we picked Shonta to be your trainer because of her unique characteristics." He casually scratched behind his horn and stretched.

"I highly doubt that being able to understand Pokemon makes her able to be my trainer. In fact, both her and the boy are beginning trainers that may be unable to handle dangerous Pokemon like me," I said to him.

"On the contrary, there are many things that make her and Ryan very special among humans," he said. "For example, your assault on Ryan should have killed him, but it only caused superficial wounds. And when the girl was poisoned the previous night, she was able to recover by herself. All she needed was a bit of a placebo."

"We were unsure if these were the two that the legendaries spoke of, but now we're sure. The Aurora Knights have emerged and will defeat this growing darkness," Athena added.

"The Aurora Knights? Who are they and what is this darkness that you speak of?" I questioned her.

Athena cleared her throat and explained. "The Aurora Knights are special beings that are born with remarkable spirit energy. They possess special abilities, among these being the ability to understand Pokemon and the ability to heal at an accelerated rate. Some of these abilities, however, usually stay hidden until the Knight's life is in danger. Unfortunately, the same is true about the Umbra, who are what the Aurora Knights fight against."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I don't understand any of this! What does all this have to do with me?"

"Actually, nothing. But it's cool to have an Aurora Knight for a trainer!" a voice from above me. I looked up and saw the shape of a large bird slowly landing in front of me. A Pidgeot.

"Feather, how long were you listening in on the conversation?" Athena sternly asked the bird.

The one called Feather covered her beak with a wing and giggled. "The whole time! I couldn't stay hidden for long. Besides, did you have to bring up all that talk about the Aurora Knights and all that? This isn't the time to explain that."

The sound of the bird's name lit up something in my mind. "Feather? Is that you, Feather?" I asked the bird.

"The one and the same! It's been such a long time, Reaper!" She stretched her wings toward me, as if attempting to hug me.

"What are you doing here, Feather?" I asked her in a panicked tone.

She lowered her wings and cocked her head. "What, aren't you happy to see me? Well, to answer your question, after traveling far and wide looking for my trainer, I heard news about a human that could talk to Pokemon. I was certain that was my trainer, so I flew here as fast as I could."

I gaped at what she said. "You mean, the Shonta you were always talking about is the Shonta that lives here?"

"There's not a lot of humans that can really talk to Pokemon, Reaper." She looked around and paced back and forth. "So where is she? I have to see her now!"

I pointed at the Pokemon Center. "She's in that building, but she's asleep. It would be better if you wait until in the morning to show yourself, if she still remembers you."

"She would never forget me!" she sadly sniffed with tears in her eyes. "We might have been separated for about ten years, but I still have a place in my heart for her and I'm sure she feels the same about me. Although it has been ten years, and I'm no longer the cute little Pidgey that I once was. Okay, so maybe she _did_ forget me."

Enigma slowly shook his head. "Feather, Shonta suffered from memory loss the night she was separated from you. It was restored last night, so she should remember you."

"Oh, I'm so glad I feel like singing!" She opened her beak to let out a note and had it shut by a clawed hand. It was the hand of a enormous Charizard. It couldn't be...

"Not that I don't enjoy your lovely voice, Feather, but you did annoy me all the way here with it," he said. He didn't have a rough voice like a normal Charizard does, but rather a smooth voice like a young adult human. He released Feather's beak and stepped back.

I looked over the Charizard with disbelief. "That cannot be you, Char. The last time I saw you, you were a pitiful excuse for a Charmander."

Char growled and punched my forearm lightly. "Thanks for the warm welcome, Reaper. I thought you wanted to see some old friends. Besides, it was ten years ago."

"And where were you?" I asked him.

"Charicific Valley, my birthplace. Everyone was relieved to see me again. But Feather was too attached to me to leave me alone for a long time, so she checked up on me every now and then."

"No, I mean where you were while I was talking to Enigma and Athena?"

"Oh. In the trees over there. So where are the others?"

"The others?" I repeated.

"The ones that you promised us you would free," Feather said with a worried look on her face.

"Back at their homes. Don't worry about them."

Char nodded, looking satisfied. "Oh, you have to check this out. These crystals can do a pretty cool trick!" He tapped a bright red, diamond-shaped crystal hanging on his spiked collar, surrounding it and him in a bright light. The glow dimmed, and soon I was looking at a smiling Charmeleon. "Don't I look hot!"

"Mine can do that too!" Feather said excitedly. Hers was the same shape, but a sky blue color.

"So those jewels of yours allow you to revert to your previous evolution," I guessed.

"Yeah, like the Undo button on a computer!" Feather exclaimed.

"We can go further down if we want. It's good if we want to lay low," Char explained.

"But why are you here, Char?" I asked him.

"Allow me to explain that, Reaper," Enigma stepped in. "Athena and I informed these two that Shonta and Ryan may need some guardians to help them through their and your upcoming challenge."

"And that would be us! I get to stay with my old trainer, and Char gets to look after Ryan," Feather said cheerfully.

"Why can't I be Shonta's Pokemon, too? I'm sure that Ryan can take care of himself," Char pouted.

"Because she's mine! Jeez, why do you have to be so selfish?" Feather raged.

"I suggest you be Ryan's trainer, Char," I said. "You'll see why when you take a look at his Cyndaquil."

"Oh, is he a rookie?" Char asked.

"Nah, just a coward," I answered.

"Well, now that you are together again, I guess Athena and I should leave," Enigma spoke up. "I will check up on you later." He and Athena disappeared into the forest, leaving me with my old friends.

"So, where's Ripper?" Char asked me. He knew more about Ripper than Feather did, but less than I did.

"We...went our separate ways," I said carefully. I didn't want to say something that would suggest that something bad happened to him.

"Who's Ripper?" Feather asked Char.

"I'll explain later. So, are we introducing ourselves to the lady and her man?" Char said.

I laughed at Char's remark. "No, we should wait until morning. Let's sleep outside for now. I don't want to wake Ryan up. He would think that I went out to slit someone's throat."

"Ooh! Bad first impressions, eh?" Char joked.


	20. Another FillerMaybe

Sorry to keep you waiting! I've been caught up with school and I kind of forgot to update here. If anyone still reads this, I'll try my hardest to not go on another long hiatus.

**Another Filler…Maybe**

"You're kidding me!" Ryan exclaimed. "Do I look like a Pokemon to you?"

"Well, you would make an awesome fire-type," I said.

"I know it's strange, but you're one of the first human Aurora Knights in history," Char said with a sly grin.

"Can you please put me down? Not that I'm not afraid of you or anything," Cinder said to Char meekly.

"Did you say 'one of the first'? As in 'more than one'?" Ryan said with curiosity growing in his voice.

"Well, we have been getting reports of potential human Knights besides yourself," Char said while lowering Cinder to the ground. "But none of us have any idea why this is happening."

"Looks like you're being drafted," I said, savoring the confused look on Ryan's face. I was also wondering why all of this was happening to _Ryan_ instead of me. I mean, I was the one that just discovered that I could understand Pokemon. And who was the one that had a face-to-face encounter with Raikou?

"This is getting more and more interesting," Static snickered while wearing a grin like Char's.

"Char, we shouldn't be talking about this out in the open while looking like this," Feather said in a hushed voice.

"What's the matter, are your feathers out of date?" Static asked her.

"No, they're…hey!" Feather said, offended. "On the other hand, I do need a change." She touched the crystal embedded in her head and started to glow. It almost looked like she was evolving…in reverse. She grew shorter while her wings, plume feathers, and talons shrank. Soon I was looking at a Pidgeotto.

"Wow, you can de-evolve? Does that crystal enable you to do that?" Artemis asked Feather.

"Yeah, it lets me do lots of things. Char can use his crystal to do the same. De-evolve while I get our special balls," Feather told Char as she took off towards the nearby woods.

"Geez, she's like my annoying little sister," Char muttered.

"I know the feeling," I said. "So why did you come here? To find Ryan and me, to check up on Reaper, what?"

"Try 'all of the above'," Char said while watching Feather. "We were told that someone in this area had gotten his hands on a crystal, and Feather wanted to tagalong. Heck, she _had_ to tagalong."

"Why?"

"Because I'm kind of her guardian. When a Knight first finds his or her Crystal, they need an experienced Aurora Knight to act as a guardian. But Feather is so naïve and…unpredictable, she needed me longer than most other Knights. She could do this by herself but she's so…so…"

"Immature?" Static suggested.

"I guess," Char agreed. "No one would take her, and it's the same for her. But we can't live without each other."

Feather landed next to Char, a couple of pokeballs clutched in her right talon. I have never seen these pokeballs like them. One of them was sky blue painted with clouds and a wing symbol on the top. The other was decorated in a flame pattern with a sun symbol on the top and black on the bottom.

Feather glared at Char. "Why hadn't you de-evolved yet?" she almost hissed.

"Because you aren't the boss of me," he growled at her. "Fine, I'll de-evolve. At least you keep your wings." He lifted one of his clawed hands to the jewel in his collar and sighed as he de-evolved to a Charmeleon. He glared into Feather's eyes and stuck out his tongue. Feather smiled at him in a satisfied manner.

"Gee, they act like us," Static said to Artemis.

"Oy vay," Artemis groaned. She walked to Feather for a closer inspection of the pokeballs. "I've never seen pokeballs painted like that. What kind are they?" she asked her.

"They're special Apricorn balls, infused with the power of the crystals. These are for you, Shonta and Ryan," Feather explained. She flew up to our eye level and dropped the pokeballs into our hands. I caught the clouded ball while Ryan caught the fiery one.

"You're holding the Aero Ball, Shonta. And the Fiery Ball is yours, Ryan," Feather continued explaining. "They are made from rare Apricorns. They are then dipped into spring water that has been purified by an Aurora Crystal, giving them the ability to capture Aurora Knights. Finally the Knights deliver them to the new human recruits and become their guardians."

I absentmindedly threw the ball up and down while admiring the design. "But I'm not a Knight. Ryan's got the Crystal, right?" I asked. I looked around the town, surprised that there was no one to listen in on our little conversation.

"Yeah, but we came here because we were told that there were _two_ potential Knights here," Char corrected.

I felt my heart beat faster and my chest tingle. "Yeah, right! You think I'm one, too? And where is my Crystal?" I crossed my arms, sure that I've stumped this fire-type upstart. Oh, boy.

Char grinned slyly and gave a snicker. "Oh, I think you already have an idea. Watch this." We stared at each other for what seemed like eternity until Static broke the silence.

"Um, is something supposed to…what in the world!?!" he nearly screamed. "Char, pal, is something wrong with your eyes? Are they supposed to glow like that when you're having a staring contest?"

I would also say something about that, but my mouth didn't want to open for some reason. I was aware that Char's eyes were now the same shade of red as his body, but I didn't seem to care. I was so relaxed I almost didn't care about the strong tingling sensation in my chest. I almost didn't notice the fact that a few seconds after Static exclaimed about Char's eyes glowing that my own eyes started to glow. Or right after that my chest started glowing. I _almost_ didn't notice.

But the others didn't almost notice. Artemis and Ryan was staring at us with eyes and mouth wide open, Static was doing the same plus rubbing his eyes every now and then, and Cinder looked like he was trying to scream. Char finally made his and my eyes stop glowing. That's when I saw everyone staring at me.

"Wh-what's wrong, g-guys?" I forced out. I half-knew the answer before I asked them.

"Your chest, look at your chest!" Ryan exclaimed. His face was as white as a sheet.

I looked down and let out a squeak; it was the closest thing to a scream that my throat would allow. That was when I fully noticed that my chest was glowing red, and in the center of the glow was a diamond-shaped object: an Aurora Crystal. I dropped to my knees and put my hands over the Crystal, trying to hide the glow. I felt a tingling sensation that almost felt like a feather was tickling me from the inside.

"Ooh, busted!" Char crowed.

"More like 'drafted'," Ryan said, kneeling down. "Could you tone it down a bit? That thing could double as a lighthouse."

I tried to calm down by taking deep breaths; finally I managed to turn off the beacon of light. I gave Ryan a weak smile and stood up on shaking legs, looking down at Char and Feather. Feather looked extremely worried while Char was still smiling, obviously knowing that this would happen. Somehow feeling too weak to ask questions standing up, I dropped down on the grass to gather my strength.

"I knew we should have waited, Char!" Feather whimpered.

"What…just…happened?" I slowly asked Char.

"I briefly activated your Crystal. I told you that you had one," he explained, still wearing that smile.

"I don't understand it. How long did I have this thing inside me? How did it get here in the first place? Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"I don't really know how the Crystal got inside you, but I do know that you've had it all your life. It grew with you and protected you from danger."

I thought of the memories I had about my dad dropping me into the river, about Cackle saying there was a flash of light just after I hit the water. I had a sudden urge to be back in my own bed pretending all of this didn't happen.

"Let's go somewhere else and continue this little Q & A session, shall we?" Char offered.

I didn't see how he could be so calm about this! He just came here and swung my life in another direction just when I thought my life couldn't get weirder. I decided to say what was on my mind. "I SHOULD STRANGLE YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"

"Please babe, you should be thanking me," Char told me, anger slowly building up in your voice. "If I didn't come here with Feather to set the record straight, you would be dead without having a clue about what was going on with your life! Feather told me what happened to you when you were a little girl; beings just like Cackle are after your neck as we speak. You should be happy you have that Crystal stuck in you. Your life was in danger the second you were born, SO DON'T BE SHOUTING AT ME ABOUT ANYTHING!!!" He was close to roaring by the time he finished his rant; his face was only an inch away from mine.

"I'LL SHOUT AT YOU ALL I WANT!!!" I shouted at him.

"Um, guys? Was it cloudy when we met?" Static asked meekly.

Feather, Ryan, Artemis, and Cinder shook their heads. Char and I ignored him.

I watched Feather from the corner of my eye. She seemed to be looking up at the sky. I didn't see the expression on her face but it had to be fear, because she gave a small screech of panic. "Char! Please stop! I think she's summoning a storm!" she screeched.

"Summoning a storm? How can she do that?" I heard Cinder panic.

"Right now, she doesn't have enough control over her Crystal. It's tied to her emotions and will react violently if she gets angry enough. It may already be too late; once the Crystal senses her anger it may still be dangerous after she cools down."

"You mean _the Crystal's_ making this storm? Someone do something!" Cinder squeaked in fear.

"Yo, Char! Why don't you get an attitude adjustment?" Static yelled angrily.

"WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP?" Char roared.

"DON'T YOU TELL MY FRIEND WHAT TO DO!!!" I shouted at Char. Now I was hearing thunder.

"Not working, Static!" Artemis told him as she walked in front of me. "Please Shonta, calm down. We can work this out."

I tried to calm down but found it impossible. In fact, I was feeling angrier. It was like I couldn't stop the adrenaline rush that I had started. _But still, Char should get out of my face before something happens._

"Char must have control over his Crystal," Artemis said.

"That may be, but he has no control over his temper," Feather said. "He can be a real hothead, and once he starts burning up he ignores everyone and everything except the one he's fighting with. I need to snap him out of this."

Char finally backed away and turned his back to me. "Forget it, Feather. It was a waste of time coming here and disturbing the princess's peace. We should leave her here and let them get her. Then she'll regret rejecting our help," Char growled.

I felt my anger grow. Soon my Crystal was glowing again. "I didn't ask for your help! I'm not a helpless child. You think you can just step in and play superhero? Can't you take this thing out and leave me alone?" I pleaded.

"Sorry toots, whoever put the Crystal in you meant for you to have it so you're stuck with it," Char said while looking back with a sneer.

I felt tears streaming down my face as lightning streaked across the sky. "Please…take it out," I quietly pleaded.

"Forget it," Char said coldly.

"Please…take it away," I pleaded louder and more harshly this time.

"Forget it," he repeated.

"TAKE IT AWAY!!!" I screamed. Suddenly I was blinded by the Crystal's glow as it grew and shot off towards the sky. Someone all the way in Ecruteak City may have been able to see the beam of light. The light disappeared in a cloud.

"Whoa, you don't see that every day," Ryan said in a mixture of amazement and worry. He sat beside me. "Feel better?"

I felt a lot better; it was like it was my anger and tension that I shot off into the sky. But that didn't make Feather feel better.

"Oh no," she whispered. "It's happening again."

"What's wrong, Feather? She looks a lot better," Static said to her, his voice back to normal.

"It's not over yet. Run before it comes!" Feather yelled.

"Before what comes?" Ryan asked nervously. His question was answered as we all heard a loud roar of thunder. We looked up and saw streaks of lightning among the clouds. My instincts took over as my legs carried me at least a few yards to the left. The others excluding Char followed me and went back to being glued in place.

"Isn't thunder supposed to come _after_ lightning?" Artemis asked shakily.

"It's not coming from the lightning," Char said calmly while looking at the woods in front of us. I followed his eyes and found myself frozen in fear. A pair of yellow eyes was looking in our direction. We heard another loud roar and then the place where the eyes were located were soon sparking. We were glued in place as we saw a beam of light shoot out from the woods. It was at the last second I realized something: it was aiming at Char. My brain was practically screaming for my body to do or say something.

"Char, watch out!" I managed to call out to him when the beam hit. My eyes went wide as the beam completely engulfed him. But before it did that, I saw Char's eyes glowing red once more and saw a red sphere form around him. My mind wandered to memories of the time Cackle started to unlock my memories. That jarred something.

"Raikou…"


	21. The Day Continues

I apologize for the very long hiatus. I doubt any of my readers are still here. Or remember this, for that matter. But I promised someone that I would dust this account off and try it again. So I will post everything that I had in the forum it used to be in.

**The Day Continues**

My heart stopped as the beam swallowed up Char and continued its path toward Professor Cedar's lab. I was blinded by the beam as it passed me. Everyone in the town was now witnessing the phenomenon in the safety of their homes or the Pokemon Center, including Nurse Joy and a fully healed Reaper. Me and the Pokemon were sitting down, feeling unable to do anything. But I had to do something; after all, I did start all of this. I did the only thing I could think of:

"Raikou, stop this! Stop it now!" I yelled in desperation.

All went quiet so suddenly: no thunder, no chattering from the onlookers, nothing. I opened my eyes, waiting for my vision to clear so I can inspect the aftermath. The first thing that I noticed was that there was no beam, just a trail of turned-up street where the beam traveled. It stopped just short of the gate to the reserve. No one was hurt, but…

"Hey, where's Char?" Ryan asked before I did. He was frantically looking around for his new Pokemon.

"I don't know, but I'm more interested in finding out what _that_ is!" Static said pointing to something that was in the same place Char was when the beam hit him. It looked like a huge fireball.

"It's Char!" Feather said, sounding extremely relieved. She flew over to the fireball while Ryan put on his Crystal necklace and followed her.

I stayed where I was, feeling exhausted for some reason. I saw Static was slightly shaking and Artemis's mouth was slightly open. I didn't see Cinder anywhere.

"Hey Artemis, where's Cinder?" I asked her.

She looked at a spot on the ground. At first I thought that meant that she was trying to avoid telling me. At least, until I found out that the ground was lumpy. I dug at the spot until I saw a badly shaking Cinder.

"Are you alright?" I quietly asked him.

"Do I look alright to you!" he shouted angrily. "Where's my pokeball? I'm sitting this out for the rest of the day!" He ran to Ryan and pressed the button on his pokeball.

I turned back to the fireball, which was vanishing. In its place was Char, looking like he was ready to collapse. He shook his head and turned to me. I looked at the ground, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Someone needs to work on his people skills," Feather said. "At least you did a strong enough air lens to shield yourself from Raikou's Zap Cannon."

"That was Raikou? Why would he want to attack Char?" Ryan asked her.

"Because your friend told him to," Char growled.

I looked up and saw that he was glaring at me again. "I didn't tell him to do anything! At least, I didn't mean to!" I said defensively.

"Yes, you did! Your feelings and thoughts were read by the Crystal within you, so in a sense you meant for something like this to happen. Like what you did to Cackle." He narrowed his eyes and let out a snarl.

"I did that to Cackle?" I silently mouthed.

"Calm down, Char! She really didn't mean to put you in that much danger," Feather said calmly. "Besides, she stopped Raikou from doing anymore damage." She pointed to where the beam's trail ended.

Nurse Joy ran out of the Pokemon Center, followed by her Chansey and Reaper. Char saw them and hid behind Ryan. They looked around at the damage and ran to us. "What happened here?" she asked me and Ryan.

"Some Pokemon attacked us," Ryan explained. "We're okay. She'll need some help, though." He pointed to the still burned Tulip.

"Oh my! Chansey, get a stretcher!" she called out. Her Chansey quickly fetched a stretcher and both of them were back in the Center with Tulip in a little over a minute.

"My, that was close. I thought you were done for, Char," Feather said. "I think I'll go in my pokeball for a while for a nice nap."

"I think you should too, Char," Ryan said as he took out his pokeball. "You did get hit by a Zap Cannon, after all."

"I'm fine. I'll sleep it off later," he grumbled.

"Don't worry, give him some time and he'll cool off," Feather whispered to me before I returned her in the Aero Ball.

Reaper stood next to me and looked down at me. "What happened?" I sighed and told him.

"We should explain this to Professor Cedar," Ryan suggested. "Come on, let's go."

"Yeah, let me just…get myself together," I moaned. I struggled to get on my feet and found that I was woozier than I thought. I was exhausted, too. I closed my eyes for a second and felt my legs disappear.

"Shonta!" I heard Ryan call out.

"It's okay," I reassured him. "I just need a nap." The world around me fell silent.

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself in Professor Cedar's living room. I turned around and saw Professor Cedar playing Gamecube. I quietly watched him as he played and gave several shouts of frustration.

"Didn't I tell you to use Jigglypuff for Event Match #51?" I mused, no longer able to keep quiet.

He looked at me and smiled. "You're awake. I was about to worry about you."

"Yeah, I noticed that by your terrific bedside manner," I said sarcastically. I sat up and looked out the window. It was about nightfall. "How long have I been out?"

"Pretty much all day. Don't worry, I called your mother. She sounded worried, but I told her that you would be okay. Stay and I'll order pizza for us."

"Where's Ryan? And how did I get here? I must've been as stiff as a board!"

"He's outside with his Charizard who, I'm amazed to say, carried you here. Where did he get a Charizard that big? He reminds me of those Charizard from the Charicific Valley."

"It's a long and weird story. I think I'll get up and go chat with them."

I found Ryan and the Pokemon outside on the field. The first one to spot me was Artemis, who immediately informed the others.

"Hey guys, Shonta's up! How do you feel?" Artemis shouted.

"Like I could eat a whole pizza," I said. I had to brace myself as Artemis happily tackled me to the ground. "I see Cinder's out of his pokeball." I let Feather out of the Aero Ball and watched her fly to Char.

"Hey Shonta! Char said he wanted to talk to you! Alone!" Static called out to me from his group of Pikachu and Pichu.

"Oh boy," I groaned as I got up from the ground. "Does he want to want to talk to me or drag me in the woods and torture me?"

"Well, his words told me he wanted to talk to you but his voice kind of suggested that he'd rather drag you in the woods and torture you," Static said.

"Oh man!" I slowly walked to Char and tapped him on the back. He looked at me and smiled. It wasn't one of those crooked grins; it actually looked…warm.

"Hey. Had a nice nap?" he asked me. There was no growling in his voice, either. "Feather, can you sit this out?"

"Sure thing, Char," she said. She flew back to Ryan and the rest of the group.

"Yeah. About this morning, I'm sorry about having you zapped by Raikou," I apologized.

"That's okay. I sort of had the feeling that getting you steamed would bring that guard dog of yours here," he said.

"Guard dog?" I repeated.

"Yeah, when you sent that pillar of light skyward it was like sounding the dog whistle," Char explained. "Of course, it's the Crystal that called him so next time try to stay cool. But it may not be just that."

"Really? What else is there?" I asked him. I was waiting for this answer.

"I think he shares a mental link with _you_, not just your Crystal. He's been keeping an eye on you since you were born and trying to protect you as best as he can. I think he overdoes it, though."

"Yeah, no kidding. Can I ask you another question?"

"Shoot."

"You said you came here to visit Reaper. How did you know he was here? And how do you know him?"

"I…can't tell you," he told me. He was now looking at the ground.

"You have to! Reaper can be in a lot of trouble for what he did to this town and to us!"

"Whatever he said about his past was only partially true," he said, still looking at the ground. "Years ago, a bunch of human scientists controlled by Psychic- and Ghost- type Pokemon captured a bunch of Pokemon, including me and Feather. Most of us were training to be full-fledged Aurora Knights, but some Pokemon including Reaper and another Scyther were another issue."

"What about them?"

"They were that rare breed that was born to be able to control the Aurora Crystals. See, most Pokemon have to be trained to be able to activate the Crystals and even then most just can't cut it. But Reaper could activate it just by touching it, so he would have to be trained to control it like you. This kind of Knight is the strongest, because the power of the Crystal depends on the strength and ability of its Knight."

"So Ryan and I are like Reaper and this other Scyther?"

"Yes, but since all of us were caught in the wild, these two had no idea why they were there. Reaper and the non-Knights just thought these humans were evil Pokemon breeders trying tortuous techniques to get the most out of the Pokemon. Feather and I along with the rest of the Aurora Knight trainees were put in one part of the lab while the two Scyther and the clueless bunch were put in another part."

"So how did you get out?"

"We used our wits and our luck. We tried to get all of them out, but we couldn't help the Pokemon in Reaper's part of the lab. Later we found out that every Pokemon that was kept in that part became an Umbra Demon. But I'm not sure how Reaper escaped that fate."

"I've heard of the Umbra from Cackle. Are these the guys that are coming after me?"

"Yes; they are the extreme opposite of the Aurora Knights. To make a long explanation short, it's what happens when a dark soul gets hold of an Aurora Crystal and corrupts it. The power goes to their minds and the darkness overcomes the Crystal. They both start acting like…well, demons. But there's a twist to the lab story."

"What?"

"The lab was mostly run by Umbra Demons, but a few scientists and employees were completely clueless. When the Reaper and his gang escaped, they literally brought the house down, and killed all of the scientists. In fact, I was worried about what Reaper was doing here."

"You mean you thought that Reaper was one of the Umbra? Do you…still think that?"

"No! But I'm afraid that his Scyther friend Ripper is. He's running the operation to get rid of you and Ryan. Or just you."

"What's so special about me? Besides the fact that I was practically born an Aurora Knight and that Raikou's my bodyguard?"

"I don't know, but your link with Raikou must be a clue to why your Crystal's so important." He raised his head and gave a sinister growl.

"What's wrong?" I asked him nervously.

"We have company," he said in a low voice. He stood up and let out a loud roar that startled the Pokemon.

Feather flew back towards us. "Char, why are you sounding the alarm?"

"Fly up and check what's coming, Feather!" Char commanded her.

Feather flew up above the trees and hovered there. At first she just stood there scanning the view, but soon she was circling around us. She found something.

"Intruder alert! Intruders approaching from the forest!" she screeched. "Prepare for battle!"

"What's coming, Feather?" I called out to her.

"Umbra Demons," Char said with a tone of hatred in his voice. He loudly roared again, this time to Ryan and our Pokemon.

"What's wrong, Char? Don't tell me you're still steamed…" Static started.

"They're coming! Everyone get ready to defend yourselves!" Char bellowed. It was like he was a general or something.

"What's coming!" Cinder screamed.

We heard several long howls coming from the forest, along with cries from other Pokemon. Guess our questions were about to be answered. Shadows bursted out of the trees and faced us. Some of the Pokemon were fuzzy, but others were easy to make out.

"Show yourselves, demons!" Char demanded.

"I'll be glad to, friend," one of the shadows said. "Magnemite, light up this place with Flash."

"Yes sir," a floating shadow answered. A bright flash of light filled the field. What I saw I'll never forget. There were at least twenty or thirty Pokemon, and I remembered more than half of them.

"Oh no, the Poochyena and Mightyena are back!" Cinder whimpered.

"Hey Reaper, that Scyther looks like you," Artemis commented.

"You don't know how many people say that," the Scyther said. "Call me Ripper."

"Why are you here, Ripper? Getting too bored to chase after Pokemon, so you go after kids?"

"Actually, yeah," Ripper said. "That and I hadn't heard from my brother since I sent him off on the mission."

"I'm not your brother, and I'm done taking orders from you!" Reaper shouted.

"What is he talking about, Reaper? Why did he send you here?" I asked him, taking a step away from him.

"What's the matter, child? He's not called Reaper for nothing!" Ripper crowed.

I couldn't believe this. I thought he was innocent. What was with the device? Was it used to back up his story?

"Artemis, I want you and the rest to get Shonta and Ryan out of here. Feather and I will take care of these guys," Char instructed her.

"Char, you can't take on all of these guys!" Ryan said. "I don't think you're fully recovered from this morning."

"We'll be okay," Char reassured him. "Now return your Pokemon and get going!"

Ryan and I returned Cinder and Static, but Artemis and Reaper refused to go. We started racing when two figures stopped us in our tracks.

"Tony!" Ryan said angrily.

The other figure showed himself. I felt my heart stop. "Rod?"

"You aren't going anywhere, _Luigi_," Rod said with a sneer. He raised his hand and smiled as an explosion occurred outside the reserve.

"My home!" I cried out, dropping to my knees.

"Say goodbye to your life, Becky!" he crowed.


	22. The Umbra Demons Attack

**The Umbra Demons Attack**

Professor Cedar thought this would be a good time to stick his head out the door and shout "What's going on here?"

"Go back inside!" Ryan yelled out to him.

"You're next, birdbrain!" Tony said. "Magnemite, Thundershock." Prof. Cedar got back inside just in time.

I felt my blood boil. "Don't make me trample you, Hot Rod!" I yelled angrily.

"I think you should reconsider what you said," Rod said with a smirk.

"I don't have time to reconsider anything! Here I come!" I sped toward Rod in an attempt to tackle him to the ground but was knocked down by a heavy object. I hit the ground and rolled over to see what hit me. It was a Fearow.

"Good going, Fearow!" Tony said.

"Time for Round Two, loser!" it squawked.

"You again! Why don't you fight someone your own species?" Artemis said to it. Reaper stepped forward to fight. "Not you, I need to handle this by myself."

"What's going on back there?" I heard Char bellow.

"These two retards are in our way!" Ryan yelled to him.

"Get down!" he yelled back. We were almost too late to dodge his Flamethrower, but it totally torched Tony's Fearow along with his trainer and Rod.

"Thanks!" I shouted. We got up and started to run toward the gates.

"You will not escape!" Ripper called out to us. "Time to get them, my brother!"

Ryan looked back for a second and skidded to a halt. "Oh no," he whispered.

I looked back at him, not aware that Reaper wasn't following us. "What is it?" I looked up the driveway and saw Reaper glaring at us with red eyes. The same red eyes that he sported before he attacked us and Tulip.

"What's wrong with Reaper?" I asked, unable to hide the fear in my voice.

"Less talking, more running," Ryan said hastily, dragging me by the hand. Artemis looked back at Reaper for a second before following us.

"Reaper, go after them! We must not let the girl escape," Ripper commanded.

My lungs burned as we dashed to the gates. We were only halfway there when we heard the buzzing of Reaper's wings. "I don't think I can run anymore!" I said to Ryan between pants.

"Please try!" he pleaded.

Reaper sounded like he could strike any second. Then we heard two things: Reaper screaming in pain as he sailed right past us and Feather's wings flapping as she slowed down.

"Get on, Shonta!" Feather said as she landed beside us. "Ripper seems determined to get you, but he doesn't seem to care about Ryan."

"Gee, don't I feel wanted," Ryan managed to say sarcastically. "Don't worry; I'll use Cinder to slow Reaper down."

"Good luck," Artemis said.

I got up on Feather and took off just when Reaper was coming to his senses. "Where are we going?" I said in her ear.

"I don't know," she said. She looked down and picked up speed; Reaper was taking to the sky and heading straight for us. But Reaper only got about ten feet above the ground before he was shot down again, this time by Cinder.

I thought he was down for good this time. He was. That didn't give Ripper an excuse to give up, though. We were barely above and outside the reserve when I felt extreme pain rip through me. Both I and Feather fell to the ground. Feather had enough consciousness to flap her wings to slow her fall, but she lost it as soon as she touched the ground. I was barely hanging onto mine as I rolled off her back. The worst part is that the only way I could've escaped this was for someone to carry me. I was that paralyzed.

"Shonta, say something!" Artemis screamed in my ear.

"I want to go to sleep," I groaned.

"We got to get you out of here!" Ryan told me as he tried to pull me to my feet.

"You try running anywhere when you're both paralyzed and hungry," I groaned. Unfortunately for Ryan, my mouth was working just fine. "Return Feather for me."

Ryan searched in my pockets until he found the Aero Ball. He pointed it at Feather and returned her. I, on the other hand, was still lying on my side on the ground. Now I knew what rag dolls felt like.

Ryan made another attempt to pull me up. "Jeez, are you sure you haven't…uhh!" he grunted as an unidentifiable fist slammed into his jaw. A second after I heard Cinder and Artemis cry out in agony. It wasn't long before the face that belonged to that fist peered into my eyes. It was a Machoke. He kneeled down and scooped me from the ground and slung me over his shoulder.

"Let me go! Put me down right now! Someone help me!" I screamed as I was hauled off to the Umbra Demons. I was dropped in mid-scream as the Machoke was in turn punched by Char.

"No one's kidnapping this girl as long as I'm still standing," Char said in a determined voice.

"Man, I hate being the damsel in distress," I said under my breath.

He stood behind me and unleashed another Flamethrower. I saw out of the corner of my eye that it was aimed at Ripper. Ripper stood calmly as the attack hit. When the attack ended, Ripper was still standing unharmed. He was looking angry, though.

"No more playing games! We will take the girl and annihilate you in the process!" he raged. It was at that time that he was also wearing an Aurora Crystal, but it was black. It started to glow like it was a blacklight. The other Pokemon's eyes excluding those from the reserve were glowing red. I looked back and saw that Rod, Tony and Reaper were up again and their eyes were glowing as well. He was controlling them!

Ripper took a step forward and disappeared. I knew what was happening. I opened up my mouth to warn Char, but it was too late. Ripper appeared inches in front of Char and thrust his blade deep into Char's stomach. Char staggered for a few steps, making gagging noises, his eyes wide. He finally collapsed, blood leaking from his mouth.

Ripper watched Char through all this, an evil grin on his face. He turned to me and licked the blood from his blade. "Well, my dear, it seems that you're all mine. Machoke, pick up our guest and let's go."

Machoke picked me once again and was about to sling me across my shoulder when Ripper stopped him. "Not like that, you fool! Treat the key with care!" he roared at the Machoke. The Machoke instead chose to cradle me in his arms, avoiding a confrontation with his "boss".

I felt as if every muscle in my body was struggling to function. I had to get away from them. "Key? What do you mean by that? Drop me right now!"

Ripper walked to me and smiled. "You have a pretty voice. I'd hate it if someone cut off your tongue," he said with an acidy voice while flashing his bloodied blade. He led the group of controlled Pokemon into the forest, among them Reaper and the human traitors.


	23. The Dark Side of Ripper

Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, don't make money out of it, yadda yadda yadda.

**The Dark Side of Ripper**

_He's gone. Char's gone because of me. If that thing wasn't inside of me, none of this would be happening._ The message echoed inside my mind, along with the image of Ripper sinking his blade into Char and leaving him to bleed. I felt tears stream down my face, but I couldn't cry for fear of what Ripper might do to me. I silently prayed that Ryan and the others were still alive.

The Machoke followed the others to another clearing in the forest. There was something about the place that scared me stiff. Well, stiff_er_. It was as dark in the clearing as it was under the trees. In fact, by looking up I couldn't see any stars. At first I thought it was because it was cloudy. But it was a clear night; it was as if someone turned off the moon and stars. Forget that, it was straight out _black_. Plus, it didn't feel right. I felt cold and drowsy. It reminded me of the time Cackle haunted my sleep that night.

"We're here. Machoke, set the girl down over there and fetch her something to eat. Also let out her Pikachu; she'll need something to keep her company. Reaper, stay with me. Everyone else, surround the field in a one mile radius. I don't want anyone interfering with my plans," Reaper commanded.

"Don't bother. What can they do without the Charizard?" Tony crowed.

Ripper turned to Tony with a scowl. "You fool! The Charizard and Pidgeot were only the scouts!" Ripper roared at Tony. "The others will have known what we're up to by now! They'll send reinforcements!"

_Others? Do they mean the other Aurora Knights?_ I thought to myself.

"How will they know? We're in the middle of nowhere and your troops have not seen any spies since we got here," Rod joined in.

"They have their ways. Some Knights are connected to others by their Crystals. The Crystals will send out a distress signal if their Knight is in danger," Ripper told Rod. "But we cannot let that happen. The Key will be mine before they reach us, so just worry about doing your job correctly."

_What kind of key is he talking about? He can't mean the Crystal that's sleeping inside of me._ I looked up Ripper. He was smiling at me, that crooked smile that reminded me of Cackle. Of my father. The smile that froze my blood and stopped my heart.

"I don't see why we have to follow you," Tony muttered a little too loud.

Ripper spun around and swung his blade horizontally across Tony's midsection. Tony stood there for a few seconds with a horrified look on his face then fell to the ground _in two. _Rod stood there hyperventilating while I screamed as loud as I could. I had nothing to vomit, so my stomach was stuck doing flip-flops.

"That's why," Ripper said to the two halves of Tony. He turned to Rod with his signature wicked smile. "You question me, too?"

"N-no, Master Ripper," Rod stuttered.

"Yes, you were. Brother, take care of him," he said to Reaper.

"No! Don't do it, Reaper!" I called out to him. I watched in horror as Reaper did the same thing to Rod. My brother was now staring at me with horrified eyes and an open mouth, like a fish on dry land. I had nothing left in me to scream again; I could only stand there helpless. "Rod, Tony…" I whispered.

The Machoke returned with a couple of apples and a few berries. He kneeled in front of me, snatched my jaw and forced my mouth open. He took the berries and dropped them in my mouth. I swallowed the berries with difficulty and glared at it.

"Machoke, didn't I tell you to be gentle? Now take these bodies to the Poochyena and Mightyena," Ripper said.

Machoke let go of my jaw and dropped the apples in front of me. After that he stuck a couple of muscular fingers in my pocket, scooped out Static's pokeball, and released him from it. Static frowned at the Machoke and let sparks fly from his cheeks.

"Static, don't," I warned him.

"Hey Shonta, what's wrong? Where are we? And what happened to…oh my god! What happened to your brother?" he yelled out, pointing at Rod's severed body.

"He was getting on my nerves," Ripper simply stated.

"He gets on my nerves, too, but you didn't see me taking an ax and hacking him in half. It's too messy," Static said. "Anyway, wait until our friends get here! They'll make you pay!"

I looked down at Static and once more felt tears stream down my face. "Char's dead, Static. Ripper killed him, too."

"WHAT? The big guy's dead? What about Ryan and the rest of them? Where's my buddy Artie?"

I looked away from him. "I don't know."

"Well, let's get out of here and find out! But first, he pays," he said, looking at Ripper.

Ripper spread his arms wide. "I'm all yours, rodent."

Static stepped forward to fight, but I quickly picked him up and held him tight. "Don't do it Static. I don't want to lose you, too."

"Look! He's flying, I'm electric! That bastard's gonna fry!" he yelled angrily.

"But Char was fire _and_ an Aurora Knight and he still…" I trailed off from there, feeling the tears coming stronger.

"What happened to you? Where's your courage? You're letting this guy walk all over you. Well, at least eat; I don't think you had anything in your stomach all day."

Despite the fact that I just witnessed the execution of both Tony and Rod, I looked down at the apples with a growl in my stomach. I haven't eaten all day; if I attempted to escape I was more likely to collapse from hunger than exhaustion. I picked up an apple and started eating.

"You sure are a meek little mouse, aren't you?" Ripper spoke up while watching me finish the other apple. "Then again, my presence would silence any human. I thought you were different, you being the key and all."

"You're controlling them, aren't you? All of those Pokemon are under your control, aren't they?" I asked him quietly. I looked at Reaper, at the way he was standing there with his arms crossed. His eyes were cold and emotionless.

"The one named Tony was following me out of his own free will," he answered me. "But yes, the others are under my control. They're nowhere as strong as me but they get the job done."

"You animal! Why are you doing this?" Static cried out. "What has everyone done to you to have you killing Pokemon and humans?"

"Do you need a reason to have a little fun?"

Static stared at him with disbelief. "This is fun to you? What sick, twisted maniac gave you the idea that this is fun?"

"The previous owner of the Crystal that I am wearing. She sure did love to show it off, wearing it like it was her greatest treasure. She could order her underlings to do whatever she wanted. I wanted that power, so I took it."

"You killed him, didn't you?" Static asked him, sounding slightly scared.

"I killed _her_," he confirmed.

I gulped and shrunk against the tree, clutching Static even tighter. "Shonta, do something!" Static gasped. "Call on Raikou, or at least let me get Enigma and Athena."

"Funny you should mention them," Ripper said. "You see, they were getting to be thorns in my side as well."

"Don't tell me you killed them too," Static whimpered.

"Raikou was too powerful to kill, plus I have the slightest respect for the dark types. I had to think of something more…creative." His Umbra Crystal started to glow, making three weird large stones appear in the middle of the field. They looked like crystals. What was strange was that it looked like something was contained in there. I stood up and stumbled to the crystals, with Static following close behind me. I approached the largest crystal. Within it stood a creature with four powerful legs, large fangs, and a mane of storm clouds. No, it couldn't be!

"Aah! Raikou's a rock!" Static squeaked. He walked in front of the other two crystals with drooping ears. "Here's Enigma and Athena! How did he do that?"

I dropped to my knees and put my hands to the Raikou crystal. "It's not him. It can't be! It's a fake!" I felt my blood boil.

"Is it? How can it not be him? If it wasn't him, then he would be unleashing his fury on me right now. That's why I crystallized him," Ripper said to me.

I looked into Raikou's face; it was stuck in mid-roar. The way he was positioned told me that he was about to pounce on Ripper. It was like looking at a statue of a rearing mustang. Enigma looked enraged while Athena had on a face of shock. Their faces were frozen in terror, like when Rod and Tony were severed in half. These three might as well be dead as well.

"What are you going to do? All of this trouble started because of your Crystal, so why not just give it to me?" Ripper asked me.

I was no longer too afraid to confront him. I looked at the ground, knowing that Ripper was right behind me and ready to strike if I didn't give him the answer he wanted. I didn't care. "You can have it…when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!" I seethed.

"If you put it that way," he said coldly. I was prepared for him to use his blades on me. Instead, he muttered something then looked down at his glowing Umbra Crystal.

Fear overcame me as a deep cold rushed through my body. Not the cold that you would feel if you stepped outside on a winter day, more like the cold that I felt during my first few minutes in the field. I felt weak; I would have loved to just lie down and sleep. I didn't care about anything anymore.

"Shonta? What's wrong? What's he doing to you? Say something! Whoa, I have to get you out of here!" Static rambled. His voice seemed far away now.

"Feeling…sleepy," I told him. I couldn't recall clearly what happened next. Static seemed to disappear a few seconds later, followed by Ripper barking orders to "capture the rodent". But I couldn't shake off what happened later if I tried.

I was left in the field with Ripper, Reaper, the Machoke, and the three crystallized Pokemon. Ripper turned to me and gave a wicked smile. "Machoke, shall I demonstrate what I did to the lady Demon before I killed her and seized her Crystal?"

"Yes, Master," the Machoke answered. He walked to me and picked me up by the collar of my shirt. The wind rushed out of me as he slammed me against a tree.

"See, I don't like my victims to just lie there when I'm done with them. Such good meat shouldn't go to waste. I throw the small fries to the dogs, but I find the blood of a female human to be quite refreshing."

_This is just great. Some psycho just gave me the scariest pickup line ever. Was he saying that he was going to_ eat _me?_

"I don't like slitting their throats; too much bleeding. I made the incision in the forearm, right here." I felt cold steel press against my right forearm, where Reaper struck me yesterday.

I was not going to just hang there and do nothing. I regained my energy and struggled to get myself out of the Machoke's grip. "Why don't you suck on Buffy, you sick freak?"

Ripper withdrew his blade. "Then again, the neck looks just lovely." He reached back to bring his blade through my neck.

"Whoa!" I shouted. I quickly brought my arms up and slipped out of my shirt and dropped to the ground with a thud just as Ripper drove his blade forward. Instead of cutting my neck, he sliced my T-shirt. Along with the Machoke's wrist. Fortunately he merely scratched it.

"Trying to stay awake, are we? I bet it's only temporary. Now let's try again, shall we? Reaper, round two!" he crowed.

Reaper unfolded his arms and crept toward me. I started backing up and felt the drowsiness coming back. I frantically looked around for something to whack him with. What can you use to defend yourself between two Pokemon versions of the Grim Reaper?

Reaper started picking up speed, getting his blades ready to sink into me. I started picking up speed as well, jogging backwards while still looking for something to use as a weapon. I found nothing and Reaper knew it. He suddenly dashed forward with his wings buzzing.

"I'm not giving up!" I cried out. Running out of good ideas, I just swung at him with a weak fist. The punch actually made contact. Not only that, while I swung at him I felt my fist get hot. I looked at it and saw sparks.

"Thunderpunch? How could I do Thunderpunch?" I asked myself. I looked at the Raikou crystal and saw his eyes glowing. I could almost feel his energy. He was still alive!

"This is getting…whoa, I need to sit down." The drowsiness returned stronger than ever. Nothing could stop me from sinking into sleep. Cold, deep sleep.

_Where was I?_

_"Here you are," a familiar voice echoed. I spun around to find Cackle. "I wouldn't have thought that you were holding the Aurora Key."_

_"Okay, two questions: what are you doing in my head and what is this key everyone's talking about?"_

_"Number one, I just thought that you falling unconscious would give me the perfect opportunity to check up on you."_

_"How thoughtful of you," I said sarcastically. "I thought you couldn't haunt me until my birthday."_

_"The rules of haunting are confusing. Now for question number two. The Aurora Key is, in a nutshell, the most powerful of the Aurora Crystals."_

_"That explains why Ripper wants it so much. But why go through all of the trouble?"_

_"Ripper is a lover of death. He's one of the most bloodthirsty of any of the Umbra Demons. Then again, he pretty much grew up on the blood of others."_

_"You Umbra Demons are really ticking me off today. When I get out of here, I'm going to make sure you never get back in here."_

_Cackle started laughing out loud. "I don't think you'll be able to get out of here."_

_"What makes you say that?"_

_"You've taken in a lot of dark energy. That, combined with your exhaustion, puts you in quite a deep sleep. Your consciousness will no longer be aware of the outside world. Face it, you're doomed!"_

_I stepped away from him. "How will Ripper be able to get the Aurora Key out of me?"_

_"With an enormous amount of dark energy he'll not only be able to wake it, he'll be able to transform it into the darkest Crystal of all. He'll be able to raise all kinds of hell with it."_

_"Then I won't let him have it! I'll find it and wake it up before he does."_

_"And how is that?"_

_I looked around for an answer. This is my mind; how come it's so empty? I know I have more in here than that! But wait a minute…_

_"I'm waiting for your response," Cackle said in a bored voice._

_"I think I'll have my bodyguard throw you out now," I told him with a smile._

_"Bodyguard? The only ones in here are you and me."_

_"Yeah, and him," I added, pointing behind Cackle. There stood a pair of yellow glowing eyes. They glared at Cackle with intense hostility._

_"Raikou? But how?"_

_"I guess our bond's so strong that he'll help me even when we're both unconscious. Maybe he's here to kill you…again. Maybe he's just a figment of my imagination. Do you want to stay around to find out?"_

_Cackle's eyes darted from me to the eyes, his mouth getting wider by the second. He started mumbling rapidly. I just sat there, enjoying his state of confusion._

_"I'm waiting for your response," I mocked him. I watched as Raikou's eyes got closer. "So is he."_

_"Aargh!" Cackle shouted out of frustration. He faded away with a scowl on his face, leaving me with Raikou._

_Raikou stood where he was while he made the rest of his body visible. I slowly approached him and looked him in the eyes. "Are you a figment of my imagination?"_

_"No," he said with a deep voice._

_"What a relief," I said with a sigh. "I need your help."_

_"I know," he simply said._

_"I need to wake up this Aurora Key of mine, but I don't know how."_

_"You need energy."_

_"I don't have any! At least, not any that I want to give it."_

_"Then we must wait."_

_"Wait for what?"_

_"Help."_

_"Not exactly talkative, are you?" He knew something that I didn't._

_Raikou turned around and started walking back into the darkness. "Wait here," he told me._

_"Wait, where are you going?"_

_"I'll be back," he said as he vanished._

_"Alright, Arnold," I said quietly. I waited for him to come back. For how long I had no idea. It wasn't long before I heard something from far away, probably from outside. It sounded like thunder. I knew what Raikou was doing._

_"You're a genius!" I shouted happily._


	24. Race for the Key

This chapter will be from Ryan's point of view. Oh, and remember that this is my first work, from several years ago. I know it sucks, but the crap has to come before I give you the gems.

**Race for the Key! The Psychic Aurora Knight Arrives!**

I've never been through so much in so little time before. No wonder Shonta was so hot headed when she heard about her Aurora Crystal. I kept my eyes closed as I tried to gather enough strength to stand up. I put a hand to my jaw and winced from the pain. I didn't even get to see who or what punched me.

"Don't move, sweetie," a woman's voice said to me. It was too soft to be Shonta's voice, and it definitely wasn't my mom. It sounded like a woman of about twenty.

"What…ow!" I said as I found out that talking with a broken jaw was a painful thing. I opened my eyes and turned my head to an elegant Gardevior. She was kneeling next to me with one of her leaf-like arms stretched over me. I looked at her neck and noticed that she was wearing a necklace with a diamond-shaped purple crystal attached to it. The Gardevior closed her eyes as the crystal started to glow. So she too was an Aurora Knight.

My body tingled as the Crystal worked its magic. My pain and fatigue faded at an accelerated rate. Soon I was fully recovered; even my jaw felt fixed. The Gardevoir opened her eyes and smiled. "Done," she said simply. She rose to her feet (if she had any) and looked over me.

"Thanks," I said to her. "Are you an Aurora Knight?" I noticed that she was big for a Gardevoir; she couldn't have been shorter than six feet. Maybe the power of the Crystal causes that.

"Yes, I am," she answered. "My name is Circe, a friend of your guardian, Char." She looked toward to the reserve's gate and noticed Cinder and Artemis. "I take it that I missed the party?"

"I guess so," I said slowly as I watched her glide over to the two Pokemon. "Some Scyther named Ripper and his posse rushed in here and knocked us out. Feather's somewhere around here." I saw that the town wasn't in flames. There were many people standing outside, including the firefighting squad and Officer Jenny.

Circe healed Artemis and Cinder in the same manner and looked toward the gate. "There she is. That Pidgeot needs more training. Now you said that you saw Ripper?" She sounded strangely calm through all of this. She looked over Feather and healed her as well.

"Yeah. I think I heard Char talking and Shonta screaming, but I was unconscious." I got up and walked to the now revived Feather.

Artemis perked her ears and looked around frantically. "Where's Shonta? Where's my trainer? Feather, where is she?" She ran to Feather and looked up to her.

"I…don't know," she said quietly.

"It's your duty to know where she is. You're supposed to protect her," Circe said with cold eyes.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to protect something when ten thousand volts are surging through you!" Feather yelled harshly. "And aren't you supposed to be looking after your human, _Circe_?"

"He's with the others," Circe replied smugly. "Where's Char?"

My head snapped up at the sound of a dull, painful roar. "I don't like the sound of that," I said. We ran to the source of the sound and found Char lying on the ground, gasping for air. My nose picked up the smell of blood; the ground was soaked with it.

Cinder let out a loud squeak and rushed in front of Char's face. "Speak to me! Say something, buddy!"

Char let out a groan and slowly rolled on his back. My eyes went wide as they lay on a hole in Char stomach. It was as if someone stabbed him with a large sword. I reached out to touch it, but Circe stopped me.

"Ripper must have had a bad aim; I see no signs of pierced organs. Hang on, Char," she said shakily. She kneeled next to Char and started to heal him. I noticed that she had a strained look on her face, which probably meant that Char's injuries were more severe than mine. The Crystal was glowing more brightly than it did with me as well. I held my breath as the hole slowly closed and stopped bleeding. Circe let out a sigh of relief as she finished.

Char sat up and inspected his stomach, smiling. "Nice job, Circe. Your skills with the Mind Crystal have improved greatly," he said to her.

"Where's my trainer, Char? Where is Shonta? Where did those filthy Pokemon take her?" Artemis raged. Her fur stood on end as she took an attack position.

Char looked sadly at her and pointed toward the forest. "Ripper and his crew took her somewhere in there. Reaper and two human boys followed him," he explained.

"Great, who knows what they're doing to her," I groaned. I lifted my head to the sound of rustling leaves. "Now what is it?"

Static rushed out of the trees and plowed into Artemis. "Artie, you're alive!" He turned his head to Char and smiled even more brightly. "CHAR, YOU'RE ALIVE!" he cried out.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Char asked him.

"But how? You don't even have a scratch on you!" He ran over to Char and checked over him.

Circe cleared her throat. "It's my job to make sure that this mission didn't have any _holes_ in it," she dully joked.

I groaned. "Static, how's Shonta? What's with Rod, Tony, and Reaper? Why isn't Raikou coming to the rescue?"

Static took a deep breath. "Shonta's fine or at least she was fine when I left her. Then again, I left her with two Scyther and a Machoke."

"Two whats and a what?" Cinder squeaked.

"Rod and Tony's gone to pieces – literally. Ripper chopped them in half and fed them to the dogs. Actually, he killed Tony and made Reaper kill Rod," Static continued.

"He's insane," Artemis whispered.

"Raikou's been sealed in some kind of crystal, along with Enigma and Athena. But I wouldn't worry; Raikou won't let that stop him from unleashing some kind of electric hell," Static finished.

"That may be good news or bad news," Char commented.

"Well, it's definitely good news for Shonta," Static said.

"We have to save her!" I blurted out.

Static slowly shook his head. "I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but that's going to be a major problem. I barely got back from that place alive; there are all kinds of security surrounding the area. Plus there's this freaky aura vibrating from that place, makes you feel cold and sleepy. The closer you get to Ripper, the weaker you're going to feel."

"His dark energy is growing," Char growled. "We're leaving now. You need to help Shonta wake up the Aurora Key, Static."

"Me? Why me? Besides, someone's beaten me to it." He looked up at the sky. There was a storm starting up ahead. There wasn't one a minute ago. "Told you that being sealed in crystal wouldn't stop Raikou."

"Good job, Static. Think you can handle another mission?" Char asked him.

"I can if it doesn't involve me being maimed."

"First I want you to go see if you can recover Tony's Pokemon. If I'm not mistaken, he should have one or two."

"That means I have to go back in there with those Poochyena and Mightyena!"

"You're not chicken, are you?" Artemis asked him with a smile.

Static winced and dropped his ears. "Fine. What else?"

"Look around town and make a damage report. Start with the lab and the surrounding area and go from there. See if there are any casualties."

"That I have no problem with doing," Static told him. He ran off toward the pond.

"The rest of us excluding Circe will go after Ripper with Artemis going by land and slipping through the guards," Char instructed.

"I'll go right now," Artemis said. She took a couple of steps while sniffing for Static's trail, then ran into the forest.

"Why can't Circe come with us?" Cinder asked.

"All of that dark energy would disable my psychic powers," Circe answered. "But Char can't come. My healing could repair Ryan's jaw, but I can't pull blood out of thin air. All I did was help him regain some of his energy to help him stay awake during the trip. If he loses any more blood he could die."

"I'm going, end of story," Char said sternly. "There's one thing that I have to do before we take off. Hand me your Crystal, Ryan."

I took off the necklace and handed it to him. "Time to wake up!" he roared. He tossed it into the air and shot it with a blast of fire. The Crystal glowed bright red as it landed back in Char's claws. This time, it stayed that way. He handed it back to me.

"An Aurora Crystal needs a certain amount of a certain type of energy to wake up. But somehow it generates more energy than it takes in. If Shonta needs a lightning bolt to wake up her Aurora Key, think of how much electric energy it can dish out," Char explained. He dropped to all fours. "Now hop on, kid. We have to get a damsel out of distress."

I climbed on him with Cinder on my shoulder. "I hope you know I've never flown anywhere before," Cinder told Char.

"Same for me," I said.

"I'm ready for take-off," Feather said. She flew up into the air and hovered in place.

"Head toward the storm clouds," Char instructed. "I'll be right behind you."

I watched as Feather flew off towards the storm. "Didn't you hear what I told you?" Cinder yelled at Char.

Char stood up and extended his wings. "Yes, I did. You're just going to have to hang on tight." He backed up until he was about a hundred feet from the trees and pushed off the ground using a flap from his wings. He gave his wings another flap, which made us shoot up into the air. I held on as hard as I could, listening to Cinder's screaming. I was close to being thrown off of Char when he suddenly stopped in midair. We could see half of the forest as high as we were. We saw Feather not too far from us, hovering once more.

"I thought I told you to go ahead," Char said loudly.

"I remembered what Circe told you. I wasn't going to leave you while you were in that kind of condition," Feather said back. She turned around and shot off to our destination. I hung on, knowing what was going to happen next. Char followed her, going almost as fast as she was.

"We're going to have to get there fast. They probably saw us the second we started flying above these trees," Char said loudly.

Along the way we saw various flying Pokemon, mostly Murkrow. But when Char slowed down, I saw there were some Pokemon I've never seen before. They looked like Murkrow, but almost evil-looking. They looked bigger and slimmer, with longer wings. There was something else about them, but they were too far away for me to see clearly. But as we passed them, they spotted us and flew after us.

"Hold on, we're going to speed things up!" Char yelled. He leaned forward and went into a dive, dropping toward the trees. We pulled back up quickly, brushing up against the highest branches. Most of the birds couldn't react quickly enough to avoid crashing into the trees. Looking behind us, I saw that the Murkrow-looking Pokemon were still chasing us. I saw their angry eyes, four to each Pokemon and burning red.

"What in the world are those things?" I asked Char.

He looked back at the four-eyed birds. "Darkraven. They're what Murkrow evolve into after exposure to an Umbra Crystal or a Shadow Crystal."

"What's a Shadow Crystal?"

"The dark-type Aurora Crystal. Don't confuse it with an Umbra Crystal; it's just dark, not evil." He saw that we were almost directly below the storm clouds and above the field where Shonta was being kept.

Cinder watched the Darkraven get closer. "Go away, pesky birds!" he yelled at them. He shot a Flamethrower that scattered the Darkraven, slightly burning some of them.

Feather swooped down from above and approached us from behind. "I helped take care of some of those other flying-types."

"Slowing down and preparing for a landing," Char announced. He flapped his wings backward to slow himself down and put his feet down, making a slightly rough landing on the field. Feather landed behind him.

"Look, there's Raikou! He's been crystallized just like Static said," Feather said. "Enigma and Athena look the same way."

"It will take a lot of energy from an Aurora Crystal but we can get them out," Char said.

"You!" roared Ripper from the left of us. "I thought I killed you."

"You must be losing your touch, because I feel just fine," Char mused as he went into his Charmeleon form. "You, on the other hand, will desperately need a doctor when I get through with you."

"Brave words for a corpse-to-be," Ripper retorted. He and his Crystal started to glow. He was _evolving_ into a Scizor, but instead of the crimson red color that most Scizor sport, he was as black as night.

Char gave Ripper a look of confusion. "That Crystal must have lowered your IQ. You're a bug and a steel type. I'm a fire-type Aurora Knight, so what's your excuse for evolving?"

"Because of this!" He went from being one Scizor to ten in a second, completely surrounding us. Feather took to the sky again and started to scan the field. Ripper looked up at her and smiled darkly.

"You're next, birdy!" he yelled at her. He ended his Double Team and leaped in the air at her, claws ready for the kill.

"He's faster!" Char growled. By the time he spotted Ripper, he was already halfway there.

Feather looked back and power-flapped her wings in his direction, creating a gust attack that blew Ripper back to earth.

"Char may be stronger, but he's a slowpoke compared to me," Feather told Ripper. She turned her head to me. "Shonta's at the other end of the field, Ryan! She's out cold, but she looks okay. Reaper's knocked out as well, but he may come to at any second. Get to her and don't look back!"

I nodded and ran with Cinder still on my shoulder. Halfway across the field we heard a voice shouting. A Machoke appeared and casually walked in front of us. "Up already? I didn't think you would be awake for days. I'll just aim for your ribs next time," he said.

"You must be the guy that punched me out," I said. "Cinder, give him a Flamethrower attack."

Cinder opened his mouth and unleashed his Flamethrower which completely engulfed Machoke's head. The attack hit but proved to be unsuccessful as the Machoke stood unaffected.

"That's not good," Cinder and I whimpered together.

"Say good night!" the Machoke yelled as he swung a fist at me. I closed my eyes in fear and put my hands forward in a lame attempt to stop it, adrenaline rushing through my veins. I felt red hot…

"Aah!" I heard the Machoke scream. I opened my eyes and found Machoke rolling around on the ground, trying to put out the flames. I looked down and saw my Crystal glowing.

"Did I do that?" I asked Cinder.

"I don't know. I had my eyes closed," Cinder said sheepishly, slightly blushing.

I ran past the Machoke toward Shonta. She was found lying on the ground, shirtless. "Um, where's her shirt?" I muttered to myself. _And how come she isn't wearing it?_ I silently added.

"I have it," I heard a familiar voice say behind me. I seriously considered just standing there with my back to him, just to avoid seeing his treacherous face. I turned around anyway. Reaper stood there, with Shonta's shirt hung over his blade. But his eyes weren't dark like they were when he was attacking us earlier. His eyes were, well, normal.

"Um, thanks?" I said nervously. I slowly reached out and grabbed the shirt from Reaper's blade. He just stood there with sad eyes. "How come you're not so homicidal anymore?"

"I've been in and out of Ripper's control for some time. I couldn't take it anymore, so I went into town for help. He wouldn't let me go without a fight."

"That's why you went berserk on Tulip and the others." I kneeled next to Shonta and saw that her whole body was sparking and that her chest was glowing again.

"She must be feeding off of the electrical energy that is being given off by the lightning," Reaper said.

"Does that mean that her Key is going to wake up?" I asked. I looked up at the storm. How come the lightning was getting worse? I saw a bright flash in the clouds.

"I think we should get out of here," Cinder said shakily.

"Cinder's right, Ryan," Reaper agreed. "I think that storm's here to give Shonta a big dose of electricity, and it's not going to do that by doing cloud-to-cloud lightning."

"You mean…oh man!" I ran as fast as I could, hearing the buzzing of Reaper's wings right behind me and watching Cinder run ahead of me. We barely reached the crystals containing Raikou, Enigma and Athena when we heard a loud roar of thunder behind us. I dropped to the ground and turned around to see the lightning hit Shonta dead on.

After my eyes cleared and my ears stopped ringing, I stood up and walked back to Shonta, but stopped before I got halfway there.

"What's wrong, Ryan?" Cinder asked.

"I…don't believe this," Reaper whispered.

Shonta looked alright, not something you would expect from someone who just got hit by a lightning bolt. No burned clothing, skin, or hair. Not only did she look fine, she was starting to move. I ran the rest of the way and reached out to nudge her side. Her hand suddenly shot up and grabbed my wrist. I gasped and sat heavily on the ground, my heart pounding.

Shonta slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. "Ryan?" she mouthed. She slowly sat up and stared into my eyes. A smile slowly formed on her lips.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"It's awake. I woke it up," she said quietly. She held up a hand and opened it. In her palm was a gold chain necklace. Attached to it was a pure white Crystal with a gold dragon wrapped around it.

"It's beautiful," Cinder said in awe.

Shonta closed her hand and threw her arms around me. For one minute, I didn't bother asking her to take the shirt from my hand and put it on before hugging me.


	25. Power of the Key

**The Power of the Key**

I held on tight. Nothing could pry me off of Ryan. He was alright; it didn't matter how he recovered.

"Um, Shonta?" Ryan asked. "Shirt."

"Hmm?"

"I have…your shirt."

I let go of him and took the shirt from his hand, my face feeling hot. The shirt was torn from the collar, but it wasn't going to reveal too much. "How did you get here?"

"Char gave me a ride here."

"Char? But Ripper…"

"Had a stroke of bad luck. He was able to recover."

"But how?"

"One of Char's friends healed him and the rest of us. However, it's game over for him if he gets injured again."

"Where is he?"

"He's with Feather dueling with Ripper on the other side of the field."

Cinder stepped forward. "How do you feel, Shonta?"

"Surprisingly fine," I told him. I heard the trees rustle beside me. Artemis leaped out from them and ran to my side.

"You're here in one piece! I thought I would never see you again," she sniffed. She looked at the Aurora Key around my neck. "Is this the thing that Ripper has been looking for? What does it do?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out soon." I looked up at Reaper, his blades still stained with my brother's blood. "You know you're in a lot of trouble," I said to him.

"I'm sorry," Reaper simply stated.

"I'll deal with you later. First we have to free Raikou, Enigma and Athena." I stood up and ran to the crystallized Pokemon, the others following me. I inspected the crystals, trying to think of a way to free them. I put my hands up to the Raikou crystal. "Help me, big guy."

"Stay away from them!" I heard Ripper yell behind me. I looked and saw a black Scizor standing at an attack position.

"Great! Just when I thought you couldn't get any creepier!" I groaned loudly.

With Ripper were Feather and a Char in his Charmeleon form. Feather was on the ground, one of her wings limp. "You're alright!" Feather called out.

Char looked at me. "Get away from here, Shonta!" he shouted out.

"I'm not going anywhere!" I shouted back.

"Suit yourself!" Ripper said. He stood still for a second and disappeared before any of us saw him move a muscle.

Growing scared, I felt adrenaline pump through my veins. My senses got noticeably sharper: I could hear the grass rustle from Ripper changing directions, I could smell scents of all kinds, and I could _see_ him. At first I could only capture a glimpse of him when he stopped to change directions, but as I heard him get closer, I could see him as if he was in slow motion. No, not in real slow motion; he was still fast, but I could still track his movements. He was circling us, occasionally changing direction while looking for an opening to attack me. I kept my eyes on him. _Whoa, Matrix moment,_ I thought to myself.

He stopped zigzagging and rushed straight for me. I looked behind him and saw that Feather was trying to reach him. She wouldn't make it in time. I stared in Ripper's eyes as he got closer. I had to do something! He was now only three feet away from me. Two feet. One foot. I swung at him, hoping I would do the same thing to him that I did to Reaper. It worked. I felt electricity spread all over my right arm and concentrate in my fist, which made it transfer to Ripper's forehead as my punch connected.

The slow motion stopped as my punch sent the once again invisible Ripper flying into a tree. All of us only saw a trail of flying dirt rush into a tree and tree bark shatter, revealing a dazed and sparking Ripper. We all looked at Ripper with wide eyes and open mouths.

"What just happened?" Ryan asked after a moment of silence.

"It looks like someone shocked him," Artemis said. "No one here knows electric attacks, though. At least, I don't think so."

Char rushed over. "That's not true, Artemis. It looks like Shonta is starting to use the Key's power."

"Is this what the Aurora Key can do?" I asked him. I watched Feather hop over to us, her wing still dragging on the ground.

"Beats me. We better get these guys out of this crystal before Ripper gets up."

"How do I do that?"

"Like I said, beats me."

"You're no help," I muttered. I put my hands up to the crystal containing Raikou again. "How do you activate the Aurora Crystals by will?"

"You concentrate on what you want the Crystal to do, and it senses your wish and does it. But it has to be able to do it; different kinds of Crystals do different things."

"I hope mine can break this crystal." I closed my eyes and pictured in my mind the crystal encasing Raikou. Nothing so far.

"Shonta, are you having any luck?" I heard Ryan ask me.

"Hey, don't rush me when I'm concentrating," I told him.

"Well, concentrate faster! Ripper's coming to!" he yelled.

I tried not to open my eyes, but I still could imagine Ripper standing up, getting ready to charge us. _No, don't think about that! Concentrate on freeing Raikou!_ I told myself. My mind once more pictured the crystal. Still nothing at first, but I started to feel the warmth of the Aurora Key's glow. The crystal in my mind started to crack. My ears picked up a sound like an egg hatching.

"Hey, it's working!" I heard Feather say happily.

I concentrated harder, visualizing more cracks appearing in the crystal. I finally opened my eyes and saw cracks slowly racing from the bottom to the top of the crystal. I kept my hands on the crystal while I inspected the group. Cinder was starting to panic as Ripper slowly stood up.

"Cinder, we need to keep Ripper down. Let's combine our Flamethrowers," Char said calmly. Cinder nodded and unleashed a Flamethrower on Ripper, Char joining in. Ripper was knocked back down to the ground. "Cinder and I will keep Ripper at bay as long as we can. You concentrate on releasing Raikou and the others, Shonta."

I took me a minute to notice two things: that I had completely took my mind and my hands off of the crystals and that I could still hear the crystal cracking even though I wasn't touching it. Cracks completely covered the crystal, from Raikou's head to his toes, which gave me a thought: Raikou was in mid-pounce when he was crystallized. If he broke free while I was practically under him…

"I'm going to back up now," I quietly said to Ryan while listening to the crystal crack some more.

"Why?" he asked me.

"Because I don't want Raikou to land on me when he breaks out. Heck, I don't to be near him _period_." I kept my eyes on Raikou, watching the cracks in the crystal grow. Raikou's eyes glow and his muscles started to move. He would be out any second now.

"If you still want to do that, you better do that now!" Ryan panicked, his eyes glued to Raikou's crystal. We turned and started to run away from the crystal. Artemis and Feather turned away from Cinder and Char and looked at us.

"What are you doing?" Artemis yelled at us.

"Get away from Raikou! He's about to break out!" I yelled back.

"What about Enigma and Athena?" Feather asked me.

"I'll get to them later! I just don't want to be in Raikou's way when he goes on a rampage!" My heart leaped at a sudden loud sound; the crystal had shattered. It burst into shards that scattered all over the field.

Raikou dropped to all fours and shook, shaking off the rest of the shards. Whoever didn't back away from Raikou was sitting on the ground and staring at him. Ripper glared at him, opening and closing his pincers in anticipation. "So that human freed you. I will make sure you are beyond saving this time!" He dashed forward towards Raikou, moving too fast for any of us to see. I didn't go into Matrix mode this time, so I could just cross my fingers and hope that Raikou could withstand his attack.

Raikou jumped sideways and swiped the air with one of his massive paws. We saw something similar to when I gave Ripper a Thunderpunch, only we found out that Raikou hit Ripper's _back_, making him sail _backwards_ into a tree. The impact made him lie there, gasping for air.

I gathered up my courage and jogged over to Raikou's side. "Are you okay?" I quietly asked him. He nodded and casually walked over to Ripper, who was still down. Raikou raised a paw and brought it down on Ripper's back, making Ripper scream out in pain.

"Ooh, that must've hurt," Ryan said from behind. "I hope Raikou rips him apart."

"It looks like that's exactly what he has in mind," Reaper said as he walked to us.

"Cry for mercy!" Raikou roared, his paw still on Ripper's back.

"Never," Ripper said in a strained voice. He gave another scream of pain as Raikou stomped on his back again. I stood where I was, wincing.

"You will pay for your deeds!" Raikou roared. He slowly pushed down on Ripper's back.

"What good will that do?" Artemis wondered out loud. "He's a steel-type."

I heard a painful screeching sound, like nails on a chalkboard. Raikou was scraping his claws on Ripper. "Exactly why he should stop that!" I shouted.

Artemis whimpered from the sound. "Why don't you tell him that?" she asked me.

I walked over to Raikou with my hands covering my ears. "Hey big guy, think you can stop that sound? You're kind of torturing us, too."

"Don't address me that way, human," he growled at me.

"Yes, sir," I said meekly. He sure changed his attitude quickly. I looked down at Ripper's Umbra Crystal. "I just need to get this thing." I reached down and ripped the Crystal necklace from Ripper's neck. It glowed a fierce black and burned my hand. I gave a small shriek and dropped it. It fell to the ground and started to spin. I reached down and tried to grab it, but it hopped out of my grasp. Still glowing black, it stood on its pointed end.

"What's going on?" I asked, my eyes fixated on the Umbra Crystal.

Ripper laughed evilly. "It is signaling to the other crystals. You are going to get what you deserve: an eternity in crystal!"

"Stop them!" Raikou commanded me.

I watched the field sparkle from the shards of the crystal that had once imprisoned Raikou. "How?" I asked frantically.

"You must stop the Umbra Crystal," he growled.

I reached out for the Umbra Crystal, but it once more evaded my grasp. I gave a yell of frustration and quickly snatched it. It burned me again, but I was not going to let go this time. I held on tightly. My Aurora Key glowed brightly.

_Why are you doing this?_

The glow intensified. The Umbra Crystal got hotter and glowed brighter as well.

_Stop hurting everyone!_

The crystal shards started to float in midair, twinkling white.

_Stop messing up everyone's life!_

The shards' glow turned from white to black, heeding the Umbra Crystal's command. My hand should've been smoking from its heat.

_Please stop!_

The shards shot towards me. It was too late.

"STOP!" I cried out of desperation. The Aurora Key's glow got so bright it illuminated the entire field and blinded me. I closed my eyes and held onto the Umbra Crystal.

For one minute, I felt like the world was put on pause.


	26. After the Storm

_**After the Storm**_

_I'm so tired._

I lay there on the ground, my muscles refusing to move. I couldn't see clearly, couldn't think clearly. I closed my eyes, desperately wanting this nightmare to be over. I heard footsteps approach me. Was it Ryan coming to check on me?

"Everyone seems to be unconscious. That Aurora Key is very powerful," I heard an unfamiliar male voice say. The voice was silky yet cold. "That Scizor certainly paid the price of underestimating this girl. What a waste of a Crystal."

I opened my mouth to call for help, but nothing came out. I strained to see who was coming, but everything was beyond recognition.

"This human exceeded my expectations," another voice said. I saw two shadowy figures approach me, but I had no idea who or what they were. One could have been a Pokemon. I felt my hand being forced open, the hand that held the Umbra Crystal. "She managed to purify the Crystal as well as get rid of the dark aura around this forest."

_No! I can't let him have it!_ I tried to hold onto the Crystal, but I was so weak. I felt fingers, _human_ fingers, force my hand open and take the Crystal. I struggled to my feet, determined to take it back. "Give…it…back," I said wearily.

"Don't worry. It's in good hands now," the taller shadow assured me. I felt a soft human hand touch my cheek. The world became black and silent.

_What happened?_

"When is she going to wake up?"

_Am I alive?_

"I'm starting to worry."

_Did I win?_

"You think she's dead?"

"Nah, she's just in a coma or somethin'."

"She's sleeping, you dummy."

_I was sleeping? For how long?_

"No one sleeps for three days."

"They do if they're in a coma."

"She's not in a coma!"

_I hope I'm not in a coma._

"I bet youse my quarter she'll wake up if I shock her."

_Oh man!_ I opened my eyes to find myself in a bed. Just not _my_ bed; I was in Ryan's room. Cinder and Artemis was sitting on the bed, but I didn't see Static. I did see a Raichu sitting with them, though. They hadn't noticed that I was awake yet.

"Stand clear! This could get messy!" the Raichu said, his cheeks sparking.

"No!" I blurted out, shooting up straight in the bed. Cinder gave a squeak of surprise and fell off the bed. The Raichu stopped sparking and smiled.

"Yo, Shonta! Glad you're up!" he said.

"Hey Static, you owe me your quarter!" Artemis crowed.

I looked over the Raichu, going from being braindead to very thoughtful. "Static, is that you?" I asked him in a shocked tone.

Artemis smirked. "You're in trouble now, Static. Char told you not to touch the Key while it was glowing and you did it anyway."

"The Key did this?" I asked him. Static and the others nodded.

"Notice that he doesn't sound like the Crocodile Hunter anymore," Artemis joked.

"I told youse, it was British, not Australian!" Static shouted.

I reached out and scratched Artemis behind the ears. "What happened? I remember telling the Crystal shards to stop."

"They did. They just disappeared, we just don't know where or how," Cinder replied, climbing back on the bed.

A light came on in my head. "Where's Ryan? Where's Enigma and Athena? Where's Raikou?"

"Ryan's okay," Artemis moaned. "Now get back to scratching."

"Enigma and Athena were freed, probably from that light that came from the Key," Cinder said. "Raikou went somewhere, but he told us to tell you that he'll be watching you and Ripper."

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a small shriek. "Aah, I forgot! What happened to Ripper?" My heart worked double time. Where was Ripper now?

The Pokemon looked at each other and gave a nervous laugh.

"Explain, guys," I said sternly.

They hesitated for a minute before saying anything. "Ryan! Shonta's up!" they called out together. They were hiding something.

Ryan walked in the room. "Hey, you're finally up!"

I glared at him. "Where's Ripper?"

He looked down at the floor. "Well, you see, I kinda…" He trailed off from there, mumbling the rest of the sentence.

"Talk louder!" Static told him.

"I caught him in a pokeball," he forced out.

"WHAT! YOU CAUGHT HIM!" I screamed.

"It was the best thing to do at the time," Ryan said, his eyes looking at the ground.

"What are you saying? The guy's a menace. He's an Umbra Demon, for crying out loud!" My hands were clutching the collar of his shirt.

"He _was_ an Umbra Demon. That light from your Aurora Key purified everything, and I mean _everything_. The Pokemon that Ripper was controlling, that dark aura that was covering the forest, even that Umbra Crystal that Ripper was wearing. Ripper's not evil anymore, but he's still bitter."

"You could've found something else to do with him."

"Like what? Raikou was going to kill him, and even I didn't trust him going out there in the world alone. I had to catch him." He played with a pokeball from his pocket. "As you can see, Ripper was so weak I didn't even need any special pokeballs to catch him."

"When are you going to let him out?"

He laughed. "When he learns his lesson and starts to behave like a good boy."

I chuckled a little from his remark. "So how are our moms doing?"

"Your mom's just fine, physically speaking. It turns out that she wasn't even _near_ your house; she was at mine, worrying herself gray. She turned as white as a sheet when I told her about Rod's death. My mom threatened to ground me for life and beyond if I ever pulled something like that again."

"Hey, guess what?" Artemis spoke up in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Your room's still standing!"

That broke me out of my stupor. "Really? How?"

"The bomb was _outside_ the house, so it only blew up half of the house. Your brother must either have had gotten a soft spot or he was just very stupid."

I gave a huge sigh of relief as she said this. Somehow I believed it was the first guess and not the second. Rod had a few stuff in his room that was sentimental to him.

"What about the Umbra Crystal that I was wearing? It may have been a dream, but I think someone came and took the Crystal. I couldn't see their faces, but I think they were Aurora Knights."

Ryan groaned. "That must be Circe's human friend that Char told me about. I think his name is Riku Iwata or something. His specialty is Psychic-type Pokemon."

"He's mad because he said you looked cute when you were sleeping," Cinder said with a smile.

"So you get mad just because someone complimented me?" I said with mock anger in my voice. I looked outside; it looked like early afternoon. It was time to get out of this bed.

I sat on the steps of Ryan's house with a new set of clothes, enjoying the warm sunshine and the gentle breezes. With only a couple of weeks left before I leave for Ecruteak College, I wanted to relax as much as possible.

I looked to my left and spotted a bandage-covered Reaper who was sitting under a tree. "How are you today?" I asked him.

Reaper looked up at me and gave a small gasp. "Hello, Shonta. I did not know you would be up at this time."

"Thanks for having confidence in me," I said sarcastically. "Where are Char and Feather?"

"Sadly, they left. They said they had business to take care of, like giving a report to their superiors. They also mentioned recruits."

"Great. They just leave us here with me still kind of drained, which means unless the Crystal can work on autopilot we're done for." I plopped down beside him.

"You slept for three days. How can you be drained?"

"I need some lightning here!" I yelled up at the sky.

Reaper laughed. "Do you think he'll hear you?"

"Someone will hear me." I watched a flock of Pidgey fly by. "Something tells me this isn't over."

"Your destiny has not been fully revealed yet, Shonta. Your adventure is far from over."

Mom really gave me an earful when she came back from work. She thought I was in a coma, she thought that I wouldn't come back from the forest alive, she thought that I was foolish to try to face those vicious Pokemon without the "proper authorities", etc. Then Ms. Steele gave me pretty much the same earful when Mom got done with me. They only stopped when I asked about my stuff that I had in my room.

I pigged out on dinner that night. Everyone did; those that didn't fight that night almost starved themselves over those that did. Artemis told me that Ryan had to separate Ripper from the rest of us; he was still bitter over the idea that he was no longer wild. I thought he was still in his pokeball, until I heard angry shouting from the attic.

I know that I'm lucky that I survived the battle. I know that I am not done suffering losses. I know that many challenges lie ahead. But I will spend every day and night reflecting on what Reaper told me:

_"Your destiny has not been fully revealed yet, Shonta. Your adventure is far from over."_


End file.
